Universal to take on Harry Potter

[ChrisFL]

Hmm, I could write a thesis on this, and I will at some point. AV could write it too, but the short short version is this.

Vegas is trying to "Celebrate" a location. Disney Themeing much more literally puts you in a place and time. Also, Disney themeing is done to support a story that Disney is trying to tell. There's more to it then just "Hey Dinosaurs" or, "Hey Superheros."

I promise I'll put something more complete up fairly soon.

I think I have an idea of what you're talking about...like IOA tends to focus on big things as theming (the trident statue, the JP discovery center) vs. a lot of smaller theming elements together.

 

[raidermatt]

You can also look at the difference between the All Star resorts and the Polynesian. The goal of the Poly is to give you the feeling of Polynesia (whether it succeeds or not is for the guest to decide). The goal of the AS is to put decorations from movies up. It doesn't try to put you INTO the movie.

I've never been to IoA though, so I'm not making a judgement there.

 

[rascalmom]

I agree that Universal has some great theming - but it is mostly inside a ride or attraction. For example, my family loves MIB - great theming...much better that Disney's Buzz. But I don't find the immersioninto a theme at Universal like I do at Disney, or least as consistently. At Universal I feel like I am moving from ride to ride - at Disney I feel I am moving between era's.

I like the feeling of walking down Main Street - I feel I am visiting a small town in turn-of-the-century middle America. I can't think of any areas of Universal that gives me that same feeling. Both companies have things they do well, as well as a few clinkers.

Spiderman/Universal's water raft ride with Bullwinkle (cardboard cutouts)....
Expedition Everest/Chester & Hester's dino-disaster....

I am not anti-Universal - my family spends a day or two there about every other trip to Orlando. Can't beat FOTL, but we don't need more than 2 or 3 days there to feel we are "done"....hopefully the deal for Harry Potterland will broaden the options and theming there.

 

[Keyser]

Hmm, I could write a thesis on this, and I will at some point. AV could write it too, but the short short version is this.

Vegas is trying to "Celebrate" a location. Disney Themeing much more literally puts you in a place and time. Also, Disney themeing is done to support a story that Disney is trying to tell. There's more to it then just "Hey Dinosaurs" or, "Hey Superheros."

I promise I'll put something more complete up fairly soon.

Yeah - I'd agree with all of that, and what others have said. IOA as a whole feels far less "immersive" than Disney. It's been a while since I was there, but I don't remember feeling like I was "in" a comic book in the Marvel area as a whole (the Spiderman ride was different), or really "in" a Seuss story in the Seuss land. I do think that one part of IOA - the Jurassic Park section - was themed pretty well, though. It did feel like I was visiting a Jurassic park - with various attractions (the info center, the river ride, the triceratops encounter) all there. Of course, that's kind of cheating (theming to a "park" within a park is not hard...).

 

[JeanfromBNA]

i just got an email about this from Universal Orlando so it must be very official. I am excited, being a recovering harry potter addict haha. But, i do hope it makes disney want to work on their own parks to compete with this!

You're a recovering HP addict? Which potion did you take to recover . . . ?

 

[tidefan]

One thing that I think is a little lost in all of the hoopla over the announcement today is that it seems to me that if someone (either Universal or Disney or AB) was going to build a Harry Potter park, then it should have been built already and be open. Since we are right on the precipice of the final book in the HP chapter, the excitement right now is at it's height. In 3 years from now, when HP land is opened, do you think that there will be as much excitement? Yes, I'm sure that it will look great and all, but it sure seems that if someone wanted to really cash in on all of the HP hysteria, then the park should have been opened around now, not 3 years into the future. Once the final book is released and the whole story has been told, will interest wane?

 

[YoHo]

I suspect it's not all that interesting. It probably boils down to Disney is cheap.

Anyway, I promised a thesis and it comes with some selfpromotion.
Witness
YoHo's Blog

 

[tomerin]

To me, the good news, Disney will feel it necessary to respond in kind. My hope is that we finally get the Beastly Kingdomme

after reading about US getting potter this is exactly what i was thinking. hopefully it will be a well thought and planned addition and not a quickie fix. with the addition to the seaworld complex and now this, WDW has to respond. hopefully we will get another EE and not triceratops spin.

real competiton could definitly make WDW even better.

 

[stczt]

Wow! I am so glad this is going to universol.

 

[crazy4wdw]

Tourism insiders see Universal's Harry Potter announcement as bonanza

Universal can draw on the character's huge fan base.


Beth Kassab | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted June 1, 2007

The tourism industry buzzed feverishly Thursday about the potential impact of Universal Orlando's announcement that it has secured the rights to build an attraction centered on the hugely successful Harry Potter character.

Local tourism boosters are hoping the young wizard's worldwide popularity -- which already rivals that of Disney's Mickey Mouse -- will bring more visitors to Orlando. The deal also ups the ante for the area's other theme parks.

"Properly conceived and executed, this story line absolutely has the potential to be one of the all-time biggest hits in the theme-park industry," said Dennis Speigel, president of International Theme Park Services Inc. in Cincinnati.

Universal intends to spend $230 million to $265 million to create "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter" at Islands of Adventure along with a previously announced Simpsons attraction, according to a filing Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

This year alone, the expenditure is expected to reach from $75 million to $85 million, the filing said.

Speigel likened the Potter stories to the "timeless" and age-barrier-breaking qualities of The Wizard of Oz.

Indeed, Harry Potter is so hot, the title character in the series of books about a world of witches and wizards scores just four popularity points behind pop-culture icon and new cross-town competition Mickey Mouse, according to market research.

Marketing executive Steven Levitt said Harry Potter carries big potential according to his company's Q Scores, which measure how familiar audiences are with specific characters, brands or personalities as well as how many people rank the character as one of their "favorites."

The Harry Potter book series measures 39 and Mickey Mouse boasts a score of 43. Santa Claus trounces both at 56. Superman, the comic book version, scores at 26.

"Eight out of 10 people already know the Harry Potter character," said Levitt, president of Marketing Evaluations Inc. "The way it's going to grow [among] people who aren't saying, 'it's one of my favorites' is a new iteration of Harry Potter -- like a theme-park attraction."

Universal's challenge will be to create an attraction that delivers on its promise to exceed Potter fans' expectations for faithfulness to the stories.

Universal has said the "Wizarding World" -- based on the phenomenon created by British author J.K. Rowling, who has sold more than 300 million books -- could debut by late 2009. In its SEC filing, Universal said the park should open no later than summer 2010. The four movies released so far have pulled in $3.5 billion.

Universal Chairman Tom Williams told the Orlando Sentinel on Thursday that the Harry Potter attraction would be like "a theme park within a theme park" spanning about 20 acres of Islands of Adventure's 85 total acres.

The 10-year licensing deal between Universal City Development Partners and Warner Bros. Consumer Products Inc. was signed May 25 and includes an option for two five-year renewal periods.

The agreement also requires Universal to pay Warner Bros. licensing fees, merchandise royalties and other payments, though specifics were not disclosed.

Williams said Thursday that he was "still kind of pinching myself" over the deal. The pressure to build an attraction that is true to the Harry Potter brand, he said, will be intense, though the company is looking forward to creating the smells, sounds and texture of Hogwarts Castle and the Forbidden Forest.

"To have a chance to bring Harry Potter to life is right up our alley," he said.

The new attraction's biggest impact could be among international travelers, whose numbers have waned in recent years.

"Harry Potter is printed in 63 languages; that shows you the power of the brand," said Gary Sain, president of the Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau. "If we can tap into that and create that interest to visit Orlando, that's superb."

The attraction also could give rise to more repeat visitors who will return to Orlando to see what's new.

At the same time, Harry Potter could inject new competition among theme parks in Orlando, where Universal has experienced declining visitors in recent years while Walt Disney World has seen attendance continue to increase.

A Disney spokeswoman even lauded Universal's announcement.

"Whenever one of our region's tourism-industry players makes an investment in their business, it's good for our industry and our community as a whole," said Disney spokeswoman Kim Prunty. "That's why we continue to invest in our business."

Disney's popular "Year of a Million Dreams" promotional campaign and plans for a new ride based on Toy Story to open next year are likely to keep the race for fresh attractions at full speed.

"I think Cinderella's Castle now has a new rival: Hogwarts Castle," said Speigel, the theme-park consultant. "This is going to be a tough one to one-up right now."

Sara K. Clarke of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report. Beth Kassab can be reached at bkassab@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5448.

 

[Lewisc]

Didn't LandmarkEntertainment do much of the theming at IOA? Didn't they also do a lot of the theming in Vegas. Forum Shops and Star Trek Experience specifically?

Landmarks website seems to be broken, not sure if they're still in business.

edited to say it looks like one of the principals of LandmarkEntertainment has his own compnay
http://www.garygoddard.com/

edited to add

YoHo--I sort of agree with your point with regards to "old Disney". New Disney has given us the value resorts, parts of AKL that have a view of an offsite road, the carnival section of AK and the hat in front of the original icon at the Disney-MGM studios. I think IOA is at least as well themed as "New Disney". Compare MIB with Buzz Lightyear.

The problem with IOA's themeing is that they don't actually understand what themeing is. It's themed like a Vegas Hotel, not in the traditional Disney sense. This project is the first that may overcome that.

 

[DisOrBust]

Am I the only one depressed about this? WDW get the Four Seasons and Universal gets Harry. Didn't Av write once how Disney had a crack at doing the HP movies but they were to cheap? I wonder if anyone realizes the catastrophic result.

 

[EUROPACL]

Am I the only one depressed about this? WDW get the Four Seasons and Universal gets Harry. Didn't Av write once how Disney had a crack at doing the HP movies but they were to cheap? I wonder if anyone realizes the catastrophic result.

Yes the list is long on the movies that Disney passed on. LOTR...Harry Potter AV keeps a better list I'm sure. They just spent half a billion on POTC: At Scripts End...they could have put in a Harry Potter Land and Beastly Kingdom at that price. Nope we get 20 min of Jack talking to himself, 50ft tall women whos plot line just disappears and half a dozen other characters with no role in the movie. ( Thank your Dad Kids....Thanks Disney)

 

[Another Voice]

I which I had an hour to write this, but I don't. So at the moment, here are some quick comments.

Basically it all ended up that Disney was cheap and their misguided economics. The rights were turning out the fairly expensive (Ms. Rowlin is a very good business person) - far beyond what Disney was willing to spend for a park attraction. Unlike Universal, Disney was willing to only committ to a single, 'Tower of Terror'/'Mission: Space' sized attraction for the parks. Disney's other alternative was to build an entire gate around Harry Potter - but that was far, far more capital than Disney is going to spend on the parks theses days. The plans were very unimpressive and Ms. Rowling passed.

Disney considers the parks to be "synergy" for the rest of the company. A ticket to the Magic Kingdom is little more than a chance for Disney to sell you branded products - an entire trip to Walt Disney World is nothing but a "brand experience". The parks are the place where Disney can pull together all its products from movies, music, theater, merchanside, television, publishing, techology, etc - and sell it to you. Or as an internal PowerPoint presentation put it - "each guest contact is a sales opportunity".

That concept (that people want to see "Disney", not "Disneyland") has essentially been made up to push through other projects and is driving the whole "Disney Destination" project, the Pixar-land projects and princess prancing pratical everywhere. Potter isn't a Disney brand, why bother with it.

Most of the people at Universal are ex-Imagineers anyway. WDI has been closed down for a couple years now, they are nothing more than a project management group for the parks anyway. Within Disney's corporate managemnt there was serious doubt that Disney could pull off something the scope of Harry Potter - and if you've been to either California Adventure or Disney Studios Paris you'll know their concerns are justified. The spark that made WDI special was stomped out years ago.

In the end - I'm interested in seeing what Universal does. Years ago I would have thought loosing a property like Potter would have been a disaster for Disney. But seeing how Disney works these days I rather happy they were passed over. I'd much rather have a good Potter attraction than another poorly made Disney addition.

 

[rantnnravin]

what kind of rights does Disney have re: the Potter movies?

just thinking out loud here, but wouldn't it stand to reason that the Potter movies might never see anywhere but the inside of "the disney vault" from here on in? Thus squashing any future interest in the Potter stories beyond the release of the last book?

 

[Another Voice]

Disney doesn't have any rights at all the Harry Potter - the movies are produced by Warner Brothers. It's one of the reasons why Disney wasn't all that excited about the project, they'd have to spend a lot of money to promote someone's else property. Disney didn't think enough new people would come to WDW to justify the costs; Disney didn't want to spend the money to build a separate gated attraction because Disney wouldn't get the coin from the merchandise sales.

 

[mjstaceyuofm]

Disney didn't think enough new people would come to WDW to justify the costs

As you stated - sorely misguided thinking on Disney' part. I've never been to IOA in my life, but I will go now just to see how this Wizarding World turns out and be a "new" visitor to IOA....

The funny thing is I'll do it while I take advantage of my DVC unit on their property thus encapsulating everything they don't want to happen - guests leaving property, visiting the competition, etc....

Oh well - their loss.

 

[YoHo]

I'm going to replace WWWD with DiD in all my internet shorthand. Disney is Dumb.

 

[Another Voice]

Oh well - their loss.

Which was the primary arguement for the project.

Disney's focus for the last decade and more has been on the repeat visitor. They've given up on attraction new audiences to WDW (for the most part), and instead focused on shortening the time between visits - and then to encouraging multiple visits per year.

The problem is simple however - how many times do you really want to see Philaramagic? Any place grows tired after a while, people become disinterested in whole areas...and maybe eventually even in the whole property. Yes, there are some "mentally interesting" people that can manage 'Tiki Room: Under Management' six times a year for ten year's running - but when WDW gets a familar as the Starbucks on the corner...normal people question spending so much money to see the same things over and over and over and over again.

That is Disney's challenge for the next decade - how do they keep WDW interesting now for the repeat visitor. The resort has gone from a "trip of a lifetime" expereince to a place to spend this month's long weekend. It's going to take more than just a new attraction every other year. But unless Disney keeps a constant stream of new activities coming, people are going to start wandering.

That's what Universal is counting on. With Islands of Adventure they had expected to expand the number of tourists going to Orlando (the same mistake Disney made with Animal Kingdom). Instead there was a little reshuffling of where people spent their time. For U-Orlando, what they offered wasn't interesting enough the get people away from Disney.

They think that will change. Disney has spent a decade doing little to the property to keep it interesting; instead they've come up with gimmicks to keep people locked up. Getting a free bus from the airport, however, has it's limits when little boys and girls all start screaming that they want to see Dumbledoor instead of Stitch.

It's Disney weakness at the moment. People are always willing to throw huge amounts of money at things they really want to see - but all has been able to offer are discounted hotel rooms and free food. Disney could quickly find itself in the position of being just another cheap motel off International Drive.

 

[daannzzz]

I have been stewing over this info for the couple of days that it came out and I don't think disney can do anything at all about keeping people from using a day or two of their Orlando vacation to go to Universal to see Harry Potter. Disney could build a replica of the Disney Sea on property and I think People would cut out a day in another Disney park to see the Orlando Disney Sea AND cut out some time to go over to Universal. No matter what they do they will not be able to compete with Haryy Potter. I personally am not a fan of Harry Potter at all but I love the look of what they want to do with it at IOA (Where I have been twice). I spent 4 nights at Portofino Bay and thought it was awesome. I think many people who have not yet tried the Universal resort may be impressed and go back more often.
The question is, if Disney realizes that they can't compete with Harry Potter (Narnia attractions won't cut it) will the not bother with any plan to create a spectacular attraction and focus on cleaning up and fixing what is there now, which they should have been doing all along, so they don't loose to many people?