RUMOR: Disney and WB to Bring Lord of the Rings to Parks?

[DRDISNEYMD]

Disney can buy all the franchises in the world but since Mickey has short arms and long pockets it's merely diluting the limited funds they have to spend.

Look at Tangled. Absolutely wonderful movie that did great box office and perfect for New Fantasyland. Disney builds themed restrooms and a phone charging station

~StarWarsJez, this is just mean! LOL. LOL. You need some Main Street Starbucks coffee this morning!

~Seriously, I have to agree with you!

 

[DRDISNEYMD]

to be fair though, they are SUPER nice restrooms...

~LOL. The bathrooms are fabulous!!!

 

[Rumors Rocks]

Personally, I would love to see what the imagineers could do with the middle earth license, but with the Avatar stuff, the new Marvel licenses and Star Wars I find it hard to believe they could add it to the already pretty full slate. They certainly have the cash flow to purchase it and it is a franchise that has staying power in my opinion.

I hope it's true, but I won't hold my breath.

 

[IamDisney1967]

I honestly hope Disney doesn't get LOL for they will ruin it like they have Star Wars and are on there way to ruining Marvel.These are iconic films and books with iconic characters for the true fans that live and breath these films and books.Anyone who thinks seeing Mickey or any other Disney character as a star wars character is completely lost on how iconic these characters are and what they mean in the realm of history.Universal has done great with WWOHP because they left it the way it was meant to be.Disney will soon own the rights to all iconic series in books and movies and ruin them all just for they can make money off them(very sad).This upsets me so much that people think its cute seeing Mickey or some Disney character as an iconic figure from a great book or movie with rich and staying power long past our days in this world.I can only hope Universal gets LOL and does it justice like WWOHP(brought the world to life without ruining the franchise and its Iconic history).I love Mickey and a lot of things Disney,but keep it to Pixar and all the characters they have now not in use(VILLIANS VILLIANS VILLIANS).

 

[Dis_Fan]

I honestly hope Disney doesn't get LOL for they will ruin it like they have Star Wars and are on there way to ruining Marvel.These are iconic films and books with iconic characters for the true fans that live and breath these films and books.Anyone who thinks seeing Mickey or any other Disney character as a star wars character is completely lost on how iconic these characters are and what they mean in the realm of history.Universal has done great with WWOHP because they left it the way it was meant to be.Disney will soon own the rights to all iconic series in books and movies and ruin them all just for they can make money off them(very sad).This upsets me so much that people think its cute seeing Mickey or some Disney character as an iconic figure from a great book or movie with rich and staying power long past our days in this world.I can only hope Universal gets LOL and does it justice like WWOHP(brought the world to life without ruining the franchise and its Iconic history).I love Mickey and a lot of things Disney,but keep it to Pixar and all the characters they have now not in use(VILLIANS VILLIANS VILLIANS).

How is Disney ruining Marvel? Have you been reading the comics? Since being bought Marvel has brought us the Marvel NOW comics, Hawkeye, events like Infinity. Plus some of the highest grossing movies ever. What exactly is Disney ruining?

and off track a few plus posts ago. Disney will never buy DC. It would be like Coke buying Pepsi. Not going to happen. And I am sure the people heading Marvel (Bendis, Axel, ect) will not agree to the comics merging.

 

[beer dave]

Well, since we're being hypothetical and considering all possibilities...let's look at the most recent comparable situation.

Disney buys Marvel...Universal has Marvel theme park rights. Because they are in direct competition with a Disney park, that specific Disney park is not allowed to have the rights...but others are. The closest Six Flags park is in Georgia, and is not in direct competition with Disney (and I suspect keeping their distance from Florida because they don't believe they CAN compete). There are Six Flags in CA, however...and since Disney is free to build Marvel there, suppose they put in a clause on this one that No Disney parks west of the Mississippi can build DC rides. Disney Marvel park in CA, Disney DC park in FL to compete with Universal...whereas a Marvel park in FL would likely not be nearly as much of a value as far as competition is concerned. All the while, maybe Six Flags parks are allowed to keep their DC themes. What threat are they to Disney, really? In California Disney would have Marvel to compete with their DC, and in FL Disney has DC to compete with Universal's Marvel. The rest of Six Flags parks (save Georgia) are so far away, I wouldn't really consider them competing in the same market. If you're really going just to ride a Green Lantern roller coaster and you live in NY, you're not going to WDW anyway.

Maybe i should shutup. I might be giving away Disney's master plan!

Excellent! How about this.... Disney buys DC as well. They then merge the two properties in the comic books... the marvel characters turn towards the dark side, only to be defeated by the new champions of the universe, the DC avengers. Universal drops the marvel characters due to the heinous and unforgivable crimes they have committed, and Disney then is in complete control of both properties. They can then say-- wait... that didn't really happen.... it was a dream sequence.

 

[doconeill]

I'm wondering how Disney has already ruined Star Wars, considering they haven't actually released anything with it yet.

Disney characters as Star Wars characters has been going on for years, and I don't think it does anything to lessen the Star Wars characters at all.

 

[beer dave]

Okay-- anyone-- DD is a big LOTR fan, I am a fan of any expansion-- Her first question was- What possible themed rides could they do with LOTR? I'm sure there will be a lot of ideas-- but we are stuck-- riding horses? Fishing with Golum?

 

[dvcr]

Had a discussion about this when Avatar was first announced as to WHAT themes would fit better in AK. And the first two things that we thought of were Endor and Lord of the Rings.

They need to do something drastic as Universal if indeed in the "design" lead at this point.

The fantasy land expansion is gorgeous but I would argue it doesn't really add that much draw because people are going to go there regardless.

 

[doconeill]

Okay-- anyone-- DD is a big LOTR fan, I am a fan of any expansion-- Her first question was- What possible themed rides could they do with LOTR? I'm sure there will be a lot of ideas-- but we are stuck-- riding horses? Fishing with Golum?

Soarin' over Rohan...
Mt. Doom's Lava Flume...
Mines of Moria walkthrough, with the Bridge of Khazad-dûm
Isengard stratocoaster

 

[beer dave]

Soarin' over Rohan...
Mt. Doom's Lava Flume...
Mines of Moria walkthrough, with the Bridge of Khazad-dûm
Isengard stratocoaster

hahaha. I don't know all of these references, but I would go on. Were the mines where they were building all the armor? or were they manufacturing soldiers?

 

[doconeill]

hahaha. I don't know all of these references, but I would go on. Were the mines where they were building all the armor? or were they manufacturing soldiers?

Moria was a massive abandoned underground city of the Dwarves, where Gandalf fought the balrog to allow the fellowship to escape...

 

[Rumors Rocks]

Moria was a massive abandoned underground city of the Dwarves, where Gandalf fought the balrog to allow the fellowship to escape...

 

[dismichael]

Just my thoughts...


I personally would much rather have a Cars Land and Star Wars Land over a LOTR land. I like the movies (have not seen Hobbit yet) and really think that Disney could make this an amazing experience but would much rather have the other two. Just because I do not know if I will make it DL but go to DW every year and Cars Land looks AWESOME! I have always been a huge Star Wars fan too!

Next, I went to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter this year and it is soooo cool it definitely feels as though you stepped into the movies. While talking to my cousin (whos brother is an imagineer) he told me that most of WWOHP was actually designed by Disney when they were in talks with JK Rowling. Unfortunately, when talks fell through Universal took the designs that had been started and just finished them. Disney then turned the space into New Fantasyland (another great experience). And just because Disney encorporates their characters into marketing for a series (AKA Mickey into Star Wars) does not "ruin" a franchise.

Finally, when I was in Epcot in August this year, last year, the year before, and every year it has always been EXTREMELY crowded much more than AK. The FP were gone for Test Track (which was another amazing reno!!) and Soarin before 11AM. The countries were crowded as normal! I do not know when others go that it was empty but let me know because I LOVE Epcot and would love to do it when its empty!! I do agree though that World Showcase could use another country and there is definitely the space. It is just up to a country to jump on the opportunity. I do not think the entire Future World needs to be demolished and redone...that is just extreme and a waste. there is a good base of rides and just needs some simple updating...

Im done....

 

[doconeill]

Next, I went to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter this year and it is soooo cool it definitely feels as though you stepped into the movies. While talking to my cousin (whos brother is an imagineer) he told me that most of WWOHP was actually designed by Disney when they were in talks with JK Rowling. Unfortunately, when talks fell through Universal took the designs that had been started and just finished them. Disney then turned the space into New Fantasyland (another great experience). And just because Disney encorporates their characters into marketing for a series (AKA Mickey into Star Wars) does not "ruin" a franchise.

The only thing I have heard that went from Disney to Universal related to this was the design for Dueling Dragons, which supposedly was originally designed for Beastly Kingdomme at AK, but when that didn't happen, the designers took it to Universal. I don't know how true that really was...

Supposedly Disney didn't want to do very much with HP - at least a much more limited implementation - which is why JK went with Universal instead. So it seems unlikely that there was much that the designers did for Disney that would have translated into what was created.

 

[dismichael]

My cousin did not specify what Disney designed however he said it was a majority. I have not done much research into it but I do trust the source much more than the bus drivers that are often quoted.
No matter the details, comparing Disney/Star Wars to Universal/Harry Potter is apples to oranges as Disney owns Star Wars and thus can do what they want with it. Whereas Universal must still report to JK Rowling and thus do not have the freedom to make changes (they cannot even take the foam off the top of the butterbeer because JK won't let them...which makes the butterbeer no longer Gluten free) to the franchise. It is not a bad thing in either case unless you're a celiac (like my brother) it is just the way it is. Either way I still don't believe Disney ruins movies but that's just my opinion.

 

[tjkraz]

I dunno...the LOTR rumor just doesn't make sense to me.

We now know they are still serious about Avatar. Along with the nighttime show and other things they've announced this weekend, that's a billion or so $$$ in DAK.

Star Wars is pretty much a given for Hollywood Studios.

LOTR doesn't fit with Epcot and Magic Kingdom doesn't need any major expansion.

Where would LOTR even go? Unless they had plans for a 5th park...which I still believe doesn't make much sense. (IMO, a 5th park is nothing more than a $3-4 billion project which would cannibalize attendance from the other 4 parks.)

And the property isn't exactly kid-friendly, either. The films are all PG-13 and the books are high school reading level. Disney's primary audience--families with young children--has little attachment to the franchise.

Any justification I could come up with for LOTR attractions would similarly apply to Star Wars. And Disney doesn't have to pay anything to license SW.

 

[pilferk]

Sorry, I combined the show with the "appearance" word and thought you meant on the program. Having AOS in the parks never even crossed my mind. I'm not sure it's that popular right now.

From what I understand, friends that are attorney's actually looked at the publicly released information, any asset that is not being used or has plans to be used at US properties is fair game. Of course that is always subject to interpretation. I would guess Disney will just leave everything even remotely associated with Marvel out of the FL parks. It's just too easy to file lawsuits that would require significant $$ to defend. I would love to see them try to do something though.

The filing is here:
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/da...32/dex1057.htm

The verbage is here:

East of The Mississippi - any other theme park is limited to using characters not currently being used by MCA at the time such other license is granted. [For purpose of this subsection and subsection iv, a character is being used by MCA if (x) it or another character of the same family (e.g., any member of THE FANTASTIC FOUR, THE AVENGERS or villains associated with a hero being used) is more than an incidental element of an attraction, is presented as a costumed character, or is more than an incidental element of the theming of a retail store or food facility; and, (y) in addition, if such character or another character from the same family is an element in any MCA marketing during the previous year. Any character who is only used as a costume character will not be considered to be being used by MCA unless it appears as more than an incidental element in MCAs marketing.]

Your attorney friend is correct, but you'd be hard pressed to find many characters with "draw" that don't fall into the above category. You've ruled out the Avengers, S.h.i.e.l.d., X-men, Spiderman, Fantastic 4, and all the groups/team mates/friends they routinely associate with AND their rogues galleries (pool of villians).

Given the characters Uni uses...there ain't much left.

 

[doconeill]

Your attorney friend is correct, but you'd be hard pressed to find many characters with "draw" that don't fall into the above category. You've ruled out the Avengers, S.h.i.e.l.d., X-men, Spiderman, Fantastic 4, and all the groups/team mates/friends they routinely associate with AND their rogues galleries (pool of villians).

Given the characters Uni uses...there ain't much left.

Which may be why Disney is producing some movies based on lesser-known titles, like Guardians of the Galaxy and Ant-Man, as part of "Phase 2".

 

[pilferk]

Which may be why Disney is producing some movies based on lesser-known titles, like Guardians of the Galaxy and Ant-Man, as part of "Phase 2".

Maybe, but they've got a LONG way to go til they build those properties to be "theme park ready".

GOG might run into issues now that Iron Man is considered a member...since he has ties to some of the heroes and groups they belong to at Uni.

Ant man was an affiliate of the Fantastic Four, and a member of the Avengers..once upon a time. In fact, he was one of the founding members of the Avengers in the comics.

That's what I mean by "not much left". There are marvel entanglements with those groups all over the place. It's tough to see clear how closely Uni will try to hold Disney to that verbage. Almost certainly close enough to rule out Ant Man. Not sure about GOG.