Universal seeks rights to Lord of the Rings Attractions

[rebeccaariel]

Originally Posted by crazy4wdw

It's rumored that Universal is in negotiations with the Tolkein family to secure the rights to the Lord of Rings with the intention of developing theme park attractions based on the books.

If this is true, it will be interesting to see if there's any action from Disney in terms of putting more steel and concrete in WDW.

As cool as I think it would be, the Tolkien family has always been very hesitant to give anyone the rights to his work, and understandably so. It took A LOT to get the movies made. I'm not sure they will agree to this, but I'm excited to find out.

[jamarmiller]

Originally Posted by chimilady

Carsland won't entice the world of geekdom. Betwen LOTR and Harry Potter, man, that would severely cut down the amount of time we spend at Disney as the girls get older. My first ever trip to Orlando was to Universal to see the Wizarding World, not Disneyworld. I doubt any teen or adult is going to say "Yay, Carsland!" Stars Wars however, is a different story.....

Cars Land would bring in the familys. Which I would classify my current situation. So for the next 10 years at least Cars land is what my family and I would be interested in. I doubt my kids are not going to say YAY LOTR ! And when I have grandkids I expect the same.

My first trip was to Orlando was to Disney World ( and the many trips afterwards too ). I am sure when the kids get older they will enjoy LOTR and Harry Potter and such but right now, Disneys HS needs to attract the families more and Cars Land would be perfect for HS in doing this. As of right now its the one Disney Park I skip most years

[chimilady]

Originally Posted by Lewisc

It would be interesting to see if Disney sees the need to push Avatar (land?) to make sure it opens before LOR.

LOTR is way bigger than Avatar. Yes, Avatar pulled ina lot of money when it was new, but as a franchise I am friends with geeks galore and it's like meh. It's not a draw. LOTR coupled with HP though.... It will be a geek's Mecca. Myself and my husband included.

[chimilady]

Originally Posted by jamarmiller

Cars Land would bring in the familys. Which I would classify my current situation. So for the next 10 years at least Cars land is what my family and I would be interested in. I doubt my kids are not going to say YAY LOTR ! And when I have grandkids I expect the same.

My first trip was to Orlando was to Disney World ( and the many trips afterwards too ). I am sure when the kids get older they will enjoy LOTR and Harry Potter and such but right now, Disneys HS needs to attract the families more and Cars Land would be perfect for HS in doing this. As of right now its the one Disney Park I skip most years

But Disney already brings in the families, adding a Carsland won't bring in new families, it will just be a bonus for the existing ones. In fact I can see a sort of Carsland for free by walking around the Art of Animation resort. And I doubt any kid over 10 is into Carsland, it's a little kids movie. By then they've moved on to Marvel. I doubt my almost 5 year old girls will still be into princesses at 10.

[jamarmiller]

Originally Posted by chimilady

But Disney already brings in the families, adding a Carsland won't bring in new families, it will just be a bonus for the existing ones. In fact I can see a sort of Carsland for free by walking around the Art of Animation resort. And I doubt any kid over 10 is into Carsland, it's a little kids movie. By then they've moved on to Marvel. I doubt my almost 5 year old girls will still be into princesses at 10.

Well I cant speak for everyone but here is one family ( mine ) that would go to HS more often ( right now we go once every 5 years because it offers very little for family's ) if it had a cars land.

[mbrou24]

Originally Posted by chimilady

But Disney already brings in the families, adding a Carsland won't bring in new families, it will just be a bonus for the existing ones. In fact I can see a sort of Carsland for free by walking around the Art of Animation resort. And I doubt any kid over 10 is into Carsland, it's a little kids movie. By then they've moved on to Marvel. I doubt my almost 5 year old girls will still be into princesses at 10.

My fiancé is 23 and still into princesses haha. That's really what Disney is about isn't it? Making children happy and experience something great and for adults to find the inner kid in themselves?

[disneyworld1977]

Originally Posted by chimilady

But Disney already brings in the families, adding a Carsland won't bring in new families, it will just be a bonus for the existing ones. In fact I can see a sort of Carsland for free by walking around the Art of Animation resort. And I doubt any kid over 10 is into Carsland, it's a little kids movie. By then they've moved on to Marvel. I doubt my almost 5 year old girls will still be into princesses at 10.

Well I don't know who would agree with me, but my DW and I have no kids. We are in our 30s. We are kids! We are going to DCA later this year to see Cars Land. I am thrilled to see it. If it wasn't for that there, we probably wouldn't be going this year. I don't think Cars Land should be at HS, maybe some Cars attraction though. Either way I will enjoy it when I go to HS.

[cheshireqt]

Originally Posted by crazy4wdw

It's rumored that Universal is in negotiations with the Tolkein family to secure the rights to the Lord of Rings with the intention of developing theme park attractions based on the books.

If this is true, it will be interesting to see if there's any action from Disney in terms of putting more steel and concrete in WDW.

Gasp! That would be awesome!

[WDW1979]

Originally Posted by chimilady

LOTR is way bigger than Avatar. Yes, Avatar pulled ina lot of money when it was new, but as a franchise I am friends with geeks galore and it's like meh. It's not a draw. LOTR coupled with HP though.... It will be a geek's Mecca. Myself and my husband included.

I agree: "Avatar Land" will likely not be in the same league as "The World of LOTR". Aside from the special effects, Avatar has too much emphasis on "humans bad, everything else good", which is meh when it comes to story, but in LOTR the emphasis is more "humans fallen but capable of great good", which in the LOTR context provided part of a great story.

Disney doesn't need a glorified "Kali River Rapids" (fun rapids but preachy "humans burn and destroy" sets along the way) in the form of special-effects Avatar Land just to show us all how bad humans can be. And if they de-emphasize that part, where is the story?

I pick Middle Earth over Pandora. At the heart of it, the reasons and sentiments behind that personal preference are the same reasons and sentiments that have made me love Disney World since I was a child.

Avatar Land? Oh, well.

[twebber55]

Originally Posted by chimilady

LOTR is way bigger than Avatar. Yes, Avatar pulled ina lot of money when it was new, but as a franchise I am friends with geeks galore and it's like meh. It's not a draw. LOTR coupled with HP though.... It will be a geek's Mecca. Myself and my husband included.

i like them both but LOTR will most certainly not come to Disney if anybody it will be Uni

[SpacePlace]

I am looking forward to Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings all in one place if they can get that off the ground but I need new technology to keep me going back. I am very big on rides not only telling new stories but telling them in new ways (by new technologies). The KUKA arm for HP is amazing! If Universal can incorporate more technologies like that, or similar, for effects for the spells of HP and LOTR, then it's going to be pretty hard to keep me away!

[Z28KatCar]

Originally Posted by chimilady

But Disney already brings in the families, adding a Carsland won't bring in new families, it will just be a bonus for the existing ones. In fact I can see a sort of Carsland for free by walking around the Art of Animation resort. And I doubt any kid over 10 is into Carsland, it's a little kids movie. By then they've moved on to Marvel. I doubt my almost 5 year old girls will still be into princesses at 10.

I still love the princesses and so does my daughter. I never grew out of them, lol. I would love to see Disney do something more with Marvel or Pixar, not just Cars. If they had either of those at HS I would probably spend more than 1/2 a day there during our 2 week trip!

[MrRomance]

Let's assume that there is weight to this rumour and that Universal secure the LOTR rights. The rights in my view will be limited based on the way the family have protected his works thus far. Even if they were to be given free reign (which I think is highly unlikely) the project will take quite some time to get off the ground. If it were a single attraction, I could see it taking 18 months or so, if the plan is for a "World" the best case senario would be 3 years. There are a number of issues and it won't be up and running quickly.

With WWoHP and LOTR, Universal will be geek mecca as other posters have said, but is that really going to be a worry for Disney? I don't think so and here's why...

Disney have always been 5 steps ahead and definitely have things in their arsenal that Universal can't replicate or come close to. The recent acquisition of Lucas Film combined with Marvel, Pixar and of course the existing plans for Avatar are all tricks up the Disney sleeve. The LOTR franchise, while significant, doesn't come close to the Star Wars franchise and if you want to talk about geeks...Star Wars is the jewel in the crown. Disney already revamped the Star Tours attraction before the buy out, now they can extend and expand in that area of the park. DHS has grown a little tired and there is nothing in that general area that they couldn't do without to make way for Star Wars "world" in my opinion.

Another thing that has struck me with Disney in the last few years is that they have really taken some leaps forward in terms of "themed" areas. Cars Land and the Art of Animation Resort are incredibly well themed. A Pixar park has been rumoured for a while and if that were to go ahead, that would be a huge draw.

I don't think the LOTR going to Universal will bother Disney at all. They have too many irons in the fire and too many options in their bag of tricks. I think we'll see an announcement of a brand new Disney park in Florida in the next few years and while LOTR and WWoHP will continue to be a draw for some, I don't see it taking many dollars out of the Disney pockets.

I haven't been to Universal for 4 years and I've been to Florida 3 times during that 4 years. I don't plan to go this year either. HP and LOTR are not my thing and if they were to lure me back for a visit, they'll have to do a lot better than that!

[Merbean09]

Originally Posted by MrRomance

Let's assume that there is weight to this rumour and that Universal secure the LOTR rights. The rights in my view will be limited based on the way the family have protected his works thus far. Even if they were to be given free reign (which I think is highly unlikely) the project will take quite some time to get off the ground. If it were a single attraction, I could see it taking 18 months or so, if the plan is for a "World" the best case senario would be 3 years. There are a number of issues and it won't be up and running quickly.

With WWoHP and LOTR, Universal will be geek mecca as other posters have said, but is that really going to be a worry for Disney? I don't think so and here's why...

Disney have always been 5 steps ahead and definitely have things in their arsenal that Universal can't replicate or come close to. The recent acquisition of Lucas Film combined with Marvel, Pixar and of course the existing plans for Avatar are all tricks up the Disney sleeve. The LOTR franchise, while significant, doesn't come close to the Star Wars franchise and if you want to talk about geeks...Star Wars is the jewel in the crown. Disney already revamped the Star Tours attraction before the buy out, now they can extend and expand in that area of the park. DHS has grown a little tired and there is nothing in that general area that they couldn't do without to make way for Star Wars "world" in my opinion.

Another thing that has struck me with Disney in the last few years is that they have really taken some leaps forward in terms of "themed" areas. Cars Land and the Art of Animation Resort are incredibly well themed. A Pixar park has been rumoured for a while and if that were to go ahead, that would be a huge draw.

I don't think the LOTR going to Universal will bother Disney at all. They have too many irons in the fire and too many options in their bag of tricks. I think we'll see an announcement of a brand new Disney park in Florida in the next few years and while LOTR and WWoHP will continue to be a draw for some, I don't see it taking many dollars out of the Disney pockets.

I haven't been to Universal for 4 years and I've been to Florida 3 times during that 4 years. I don't plan to go this year either. HP and LOTR are not my thing and if they were to lure me back for a visit, they'll have to do a lot better than that!

I find something very wrong with this sentence.
LOTR has only been a classic novel for twice the amount of time that Star Wars has been a movie.

And if Disney has some tricks up their sleeves, I suggest they pull them out now. They are going downhill and fast.

[eeyorepixie]

Lord of the Rings=Iconic
Avatarland=NOT!