13th WDW Park?

[pilferk]

right...harry potter has been around 15 years...now i'm being told it will be culturally ingrained for another 50...

is that logical considering the massive amount of shifts in media and entertainment we have seen in just the last 20 years?

Star Wars has lasted 30 and is going strong.

I'm not clairvoyant, so I'll not offer a prediction on HP. All we can say is, right now, it's started similar to Star Wars.

Will it fall off? Maybe. Will it persist? Maybe. There's plenty of factors that point in both directions. I don't think anyone can make a case that either scenario is the "most likely" one.

Now, I'm not saying the Universal incarnation of HP will be around 50 years from now...that I'd be VERY surprised at.

 

[pilferk]

Build a great attraction and the cultural staying power of the franchise won't matter much... Star Wars was a walkon before the refurb because it was a crummy simulator ride -- and my guess is it will return to that after the initial reopening frenzy fades. Meanwhile, ToT had 40+ minute waits at the time (when SW was a walkon) despite the fact that most of the people waiting in line had probably never seen an episode.

Twilight Zone was good...but I was always more of an "Outer Limits" guy....and then Tales of the Darkside...and finally...who can forget Tales from the Crypt!

 

[pilferk]

with the rapid rate of technological development...i'm not sure any books can be timeless kids classics for generations...

i'm using the last 15 years as a guide...unless we've hit somekind of technological plateau...more things that we take for granted as being just a part of life may become obselete and fade.

that's where i'm coming from...it's not that i think harry potter is unworthy of longevity...its that i have serious doubts that such a thing will exist from any time of entertainment franchise...

and yes...that could mean that disney may fall as well...which, while unlikely...would have been inconceivable a short few years ago.

See, I'm not sure I agree.

Because CONTENT doesn't seem to be changing. The delivery mechanisms are. Sure, "books" may disappear (like VHS tapes and 8 tracks disappeared). But LITERATURE...I don't think that will. And that's borne out by a couple thousand years of history.

I mean...FILMS have started to disappear, but "performances that tell a story" (whatever you want to label them) have been around since our ancestors told tales around a campfire or danced to commemorate a successful hunt.

I can see the day (not far off) where every delivery method is digital. It's convenient, storage size is small, and it's a lot more portable....basically the miniturization we've been seeing since the Age of Technology ensued. But I don't think CONTENT will become less valuable, or carry less cultural significance.

Maybe, given the increased access to more content, attention spans will shorten even more (god forbid). Or maybe not. That's a prognostication I won't even get into, given all the social and cultural factors that purvey (and could either lead us further down that road or cause us to change course, drastically). I see your point on that....I just can't say that it's any more likely than the alternative outcome is.

 

[pilferk]

Even Snow White is getting remade...classics only go so far.

I don't think Harry Potter will fade too rapidly. After the DVD release of the last installment hits the shelves, the hype will certainly die down, but NOTHING can keep that sort of hype up. It will remain in the background though, until JK decides she needs to be a little bit richer, and delves back into her world, and the cycle will begin again...

She's create a universe in which to play. Plenty of stories that can be told in that universe. Much like Star Wars, Middle-Earth, etc.

Whether she can stay away from the pressure to being Harry back or not remains to be seen...

Or, like Dune/Frank Herbert (and the Tolkien works to a lesser extent), her kids delve in....either with new material or by "ghost authoring" from JK's notes.

Or, like Lucas did with Star Wars, the movies get "remade" and re-released with additional sequences that were either filmed and dropped, or with additional effects (for, example, in 3D) so that everyone can continue to milk the cash cow that has been HP.

There's no certainty that, with the last movie, the HP material will dry up. It may. It may not.

 

[doconeill]

Or, like Dune/Frank Herbert (and the Tolkien works to a lesser extent), her kids delve in....either with new material or by "ghost authoring" from JK's notes.

Or, like Lucas did with Star Wars, the movies get "remade" and re-released with additional sequences that were either filmed and dropped, or with additional effects (for, example, in 3D) so that everyone can continue to milk the cash cow that has been HP.

There's no certainty that, with the last movie, the HP material will dry up. It may. It may not.

My reference to JK and pressure to bring (I had typo'd it) Harry back was actually meant to be a reference to JK herself writing more stories but NOT including Harry. Come up with new characters, but in the Wizarding world. Use that universe for more storytelling but resist the urge to dip back in to the well of Harry if possible. They'd have to be compelling stories to draw back the bulk of the fans (some percentage would follow no matter what), but it is possible.

Like Brian Herbert trying to go to the backstory of Dune. Just done better

Speaking of backstories (and further topic drift), I think Middle-Earth has a TON of stories that could make great movies...but I can also see that if they don't involve Frodo or Bilbo or Gollum, they'd have trouble marketing. As it is, they are stunt casting The Hobbit, taking a few characters from The Lord Of The Rings that weren't in the books to provide connections...apparently Bilbo and Gandalf weren't enough alone. I do trust Jackson to do a decent job of it though.

And yeah, I'd visit a Middle-Earth park...

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

I feel HP is one of the longer running than most series. I agree very little of it to me seems like it will get dated.

 

[ChrisFL]

Speaking of backstories (and further topic drift), I think Middle-Earth has a TON of stories that could make great movies...but I can also see that if they don't involve Frodo or Bilbo or Gollum, they'd have trouble marketing. As it is, they are stunt casting The Hobbit, taking a few characters from The Lord Of The Rings that weren't in the books to provide connections...apparently Bilbo and Gandalf weren't enough alone. I do trust Jackson to do a decent job of it though.

And yeah, I'd visit a Middle-Earth park...

If there was a Middle-Earth park, I'd be there tomorrow!!

 

[DizCaptain]

If there was a Middle-Earth park, I'd be there tomorrow!!

Before even reading the comments on LotR I was thinking "Heh, Disney needs to acquire LotR, THEN harry potter will be hit hard." I'd too visit a middle-earth park in a heartbeat. That could seriously be an amazing, immersive, experience, not just for fans of the series, but everyone. There's true potential there...

 

[ASteelersMidget]

Before even reading the comments on LotR I was thinking "Heh, Disney needs to acquire LotR, THEN harry potter will be hit hard." I'd too visit a middle-earth park in a heartbeat. That could seriously be an amazing, immersive, experience, not just for fans of the series, but everyone. There's true potential there...

See the bold part? It's true, there is great potential there, which means if Disney did it, it would not be as good as it could, cause Imagineering is getting less creative/cheaper. Emphasis on cheaper. (Lookin at you Ogre)

 

[nytimez]

Before even reading the comments on LotR I was thinking "Heh, Disney needs to acquire LotR, THEN harry potter will be hit hard." I'd too visit a middle-earth park in a heartbeat. That could seriously be an amazing, immersive, experience, not just for fans of the series, but everyone. There's true potential there...

Last year, Universal sent out a blue-sky survey with a bunch of questions about the possibility of a LotR theme park or land. It even described the parcel of land it might be on, next to RPR I believe.

 

[Figment632]

Bottom line there will be no new park in WDW for the next 20 years.

 

[ASteelersMidget]

Bottom line there will be no new park in WDW for the next 20 years.

True. However, if the muppets movie sells enough tickets, they could do the previously devised mupptesland, or something to at least make them more known in the parks, a ride or something else with the movie.

http://www.theneverlandfiles.com/tnf/disneyworld/muppetstudios.php

crossing my fingers!