It is official afterall. Star Wars Land and Cars Land at DHS!

[Diegosmom]

back a few months ago I got an email from Disney on a survey (many people on here got the same survey) and one of the questions was about an angry bird star wars play area. I thought that was a cute idea to replace the honey I shrunk the kids...but maybe others didnt think so.

 

[doconeill]

back a few months ago I got an email from Disney on a survey (many people on here got the same survey) and one of the questions was about an angry bird star wars play area. I thought that was a cute idea to replace the honey I shrunk the kids...but maybe others didnt think so.

Those surveys often have some off-the-wall blue sky ideas.

Not saying it is a bad idea...but Disney doesn't own Angry Birds. So unless the Lucasfilm license for Angry Birds Star Wars included language about theme park attractions (unlikely, since it was pre-Disney, but not impossible), they'd have to negotiate.

 

[jamarmiller]

I think a cars 1 and 2 inspired ride would be a good idea. have the town outside and inside have scenes from cars 2 or perhaps the other way around. for me I really want to see the outiside looking exactly like DCA, the only thing inside id really like to see is the caverns but having radiator springs inside as well is sort of redundant so I could live with some cars 2 scenes inside or something

 

[pilferk]

If they got Lucasfilm for only a half billion, it would have been the steal of the century, since Episode VII will very likely gross that easily and $1 billion is within reason. The purchase price was actually $4.05 billion.

Yet, they still may not have had the theme parks directly in mind with that purchase. If Disney doesn't somehow screw up the franchise, they can probably get a return on the investment within a decade.

Here's the not so secret reason that Disney bought Lucas:

Merchandising.

Seriously, provided Disney does not completely kill the franchise with the next 3 movies, the merchandising alone will likely cover the costs of the purchase price over the next decade.

Keep in mind, these stats are from 2007..so they're a bid dated:
http://www.forbes.com/2007/05/24/star-wars-revenues-tech-cx_ag_0524money.html

1.5 BILLION dollars in revenue (not profit, but still) from merchandizing and video games. 10.6 BILLION in revenue over a decade, in toys and video games.

In a non-movie year, they made just over half a billion on toy revenue, alone, in 2010.

Here are the most recent stats I could find, through 2012:
http://statisticbrain.com/star-wars-total-franchise-revenue/

Total Toys and Video Games: Just over 15 BILLION. And that doesn't include licensing (625 million). general merchanidise (625 million), film revenue (4 billion), or revenue from the TV series (roughly 5 million).

I think you can change your "still may not have had the theme parks directly in mind" to "did not have the theme parks directly in mind". Sure, they probably had the thought, somewhere in their minds, that it might be beneficial to use the property in the parks....but I would bet dollars to donuts it was a passing consideration looking at the above.

Just as it was with Marvel..where theme park use wasn't really a consideration, at all.

 

[ChloesDaddy]

I just ran across this fan-created map of a potential Star Wars theme park. It was created in 2010. No detail on what the artist has in mind regarding the nature of attractions/rides, but the artwork is cool and it's fun to spur some additional speculation about what they could do with a Star Wars land.

Star Wars Universe Dream Park Map

I did do a quick search to see if this had been posted before and didn't find it. Apologies if it has already been posted previously.

 

[Gr8Luv4Disney]

Hearing this news, whether it's official or not, makes me happy! My boys and my husband (and myself, for that matter) would love to see Cars Land and Star Wars Land added to DHS! I think Indiana Jones and the Lights, Motors, Action Stunt Show have run their course long enough! The only thing I'm dreading is the cost of Disney resorts and admission to parks by the time Cars Land/Star Wars Land would be added.

 

[jsebsirois]

I might be on the few on here but I'm really not into that rumored expansion at all...

1) Not a Star Wars so... But I agree it's a good idea since Disney bought Lucasfilm.

2) I still don't get the partership with Avatar.

3) I really thinks Cars Land should be exclusive to Disneyland. I think it would be better if they come up with a new land for Disney World.

I mean, I totally agree that Hollywood Studios needs an expansion! The thing is I don't get why they would simply recreate an entire land. Why don't they just expand Pixar Place...

 

[mvk]

I might be on the few on here but I'm really not into that rumored expansion at all...

1) Not a Star Wars so... But I agree it's a good idea since Disney bought Lucasfilm.

2) I still don't get the partership with Avatar.

3) I really thinks Cars Land should be exclusive to Disneyland. I think it would be better if they come up with a new land for Disney World.

I mean, I totally agree that Hollywood Studios needs an expansion! The thing is I don't get why they would simply recreate an entire land. Why don't they just expand Pixar Place...

1. It is a fantastic idea, Star Wars is huge, even though the original trilogy is 30 years in the past and the prequels are far behind as well. Star Wars Weekends are very successful, so I would imagine that this expansion alone would drive attendance/profit for quite a few years.

2. Fits right in with the Animal Kingdom themes, is being assisted by one of t he great filmmakers in James Cameron, who has a vested interest in making the thing look great, and is slated to open around the time of the sequel, which will undoubtedly draw massive numbers like the original did.

3. CarsLand is proven, it has pretty much turned around DCA by itself, so it stands to reason that it will help DHS a great deal. I would prefer a World Grand Prix theming/layout to the Radiator Springs Racers ride, along with the recreation of the town itself, but the point remains, its proven successful.

I don't know if simply adding a couple of attractions (Monsters Inc/Brave/Incredibles/Up) would have the same impact as CarsLand. I doubt that it would.

 

[rteetz]

I keep hearing a lot of the rumors about an expansion and I really think its going to happen. I also think it will be both cars and Star Wars because they're perfect for DHS. I don't think cars will be as grand scale as in DCA but it will have some of the same things. The unique part will come to Star Wars that will be DHS own thing that California won't get. Carsland in DHS will have some of the same things but not everything and may even include something different in WDW that DCA doesn't have to make each Carsland unique. Star wars is going to be the kicker for sure. I'm also hearing the announcement will come at D23 expo this year and I think that will perfect for this announcement. But one thing everyone can agree on is that DHS needs to something and they need to something fast.

disney lover at heart

 

[DPCummerbund]

Here's my question about Star Wars vs Avatar:

I keep hearing about the new version of Star Tours, Star Wars weekends, character appearances, etc. It sounds like Star Wars already had a presence in the parks, and it has just been getting bigger.

Does Avatar have a presence in the park at all? Avatar weekends, Avatar character appearances, or anything?

I've never heard of anything like that. You'd think that if Disney was even considering a whole Avatar land or park, they'd at least start with some characters or something, just to gauge public reaction.

 

[mvk]

Here's my question about Star Wars vs Avatar:

I keep hearing about the new version of Star Tours, Star Wars weekends, character appearances, etc. It sounds like Star Wars already had a presence in the parks, and it has just been getting bigger.

Does Avatar have a presence in the park at all? Avatar weekends, Avatar character appearances, or anything?

I've never heard of anything like that. You'd think that if Disney was even considering a whole Avatar land or park, they'd at least start with some characters or something, just to gauge public reaction.

I don't really think it currently "fits" anywhere. It will fit in at the Animal Kingdom though, when it is completed.

 

[Twin Dad]

More "rumors" and "sources say" but I'm hopeful this is true.

http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/blog/2013/06/disneys-new-star-wars-project-will-be.html

 

[skier_pete]

More "rumors" and "sources say" but I'm hopeful this is true.

http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/blog/2013/06/disneys-new-star-wars-project-will-be.html

OK - now that one is just whoring for hits. It basically doesn't say much of anything...claiming biggest expansion ever - then mentioning $200 million, which is really NOTHING. (Maybe 1 ride.)

Not saying he's not right - but not adding anything to the conversion.

 

[bigAWL]

From the article.

Guess what, Disney fans? That rumored Star Wars land/expansion at Disney’s Hollywood Studios will dwarf any other Disney-related expansion in its recent history.

Maybe "recent history" is limited to the past week and a half.

 

[BuzzBelleMom]

From the article.



Maybe "recent history" is limited to the past week and a half.

 

[mvk]

If they simply expand to the southwestern parking lot that is directly to the east of Indy Jones and Backlot Express, encompassing the backstage buildings there too, that would be somewhere between 20-25 acres.

CarsLand was about 12 acres
New Fantasyland was about 12 acres

It's very possible they use up between 15-20 acres of this space for the expansion, and add parking by building a 2 or 3 level garage on one of the other existing lots.

 

[jlreimer]

http://www.screamscape.com/html/wdw_-_hollywood_studios.htm:

Star Wars Land - Rumor - (6/27/13) New rumors are flowing about what we might see added to the park with a possible mini Star Wars Land, and there is an interesting twist to it all now. It seems the plan to bring Star Wars Land to life may actually be divided into two phases.
Phase 1 would open rather quickly and see a Star Wars themed outdoor kiddie ride of some kind added, possibly the addition of a Cantina restaurant with Star Wars themed food items as a replacement for the Backlot Express restaurant which would be demolished for the new ride. Meanwhile an new and more impressive version of the Jedi Academy show (likely with a new name) would take up residence in a new indoor air-conditioned setting inside the old Sound Dangerous theater building.
Phase 2 is a little more tricky, as the rumors suggest that the main focus of this phase would be to add a very large E-Ticket Star Wars themed thrill ride to the park. It gets even more interesting when I’m hearing that this massive thrill ride may be set to replace The Great Movie Ride. I’ve heard it mentioned that the building could be reused and I’ve heard it may be torn down, but either way it also sounds like the old Mann’s Chinese Theater façade out front may be doomed either way as the park prepares to also remove the giant sorcerer’s hat as well.
The crazy thing is that there are even rumors about removing the nearby Echo Lake area as well, as it sounds like the park is ready to relaunch itself and may be in need of a new icon of some kind. If all those removal rumors are true, it seems almost strange that the American Idol show theater may sit untouched in the middle of it all… but we’re talking about long term plans over the next 5-7 years, and no one may care at all about American Idol by then. (As if they still do now…)
More on this as it leaks out… but the rumors are starting to get juicy.

- Monstropolis - Rumor - (6/27/13) There has been some interesting buzz coming from various sources regarding the future of the Hollywood Studios theme park and the new long-range plans. According to a posting at the Disney & More Facebook page, a plan to build a Monstropolis themed area is also under consideration here, Shanghai as well as the one we already mentioned for California Adventure.
While the entire idea of the Monsters Inc. Door Coaster concept has been bouncing around as an idea for the Studios park for years to no avail, I had also heard not long ago that the idea of adding any Monsters attractions to the Studios had been dropped. Of course, nothing ever seens to stay dead at Disney… though I find it curious that the newer rumors of building a full Monstropolis area seem tied to the fate of the Cars Land idea. In fact, some are saying that Cars Land at the Studios could be dropped entirely to build Monstropolis instead, but I’m not so sure.
I have heard that the previous giant version of Cars Land envisioned for the park (from Catastrophe Canyon to MuppetVision) may have been scaled back to only take over the Canyon, LMA show site and remainder of the Backlot Tour. This would leave all those themed New York street sets and MuppetVision area not only intact, but possibly now available for conversion to become part of Monstropolis.

 

[Fantasia79]

A Star Wars section of park would be a brilliant move that fits into Hollywood Studios. Disney will make it something surreal that you'll have to experience. Can't wait to hear more.

 

[Spacedog1975]

I would be very disappointed if they did anything to remove the GMR or the theater facade. At that point you might as well rename the whole park and start from scratch.

 

[Mickeymagic123]

This is exciting! My son will be 8 then...is that too old for Carsland? I don't think you are ever to old for Star Wars so my DH will be excited.