Wow, Disney just bought out Marvel..

[quentina]

Disney - Universal Studios!

UHHH, I fear the end of the $99.00, 7 day pass...

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

This is rather interesting in light of a rumor which I have heard many times when I worked for Disney: IOA was supposed to be part of Animal Kingdom (known as the 'Beastly Kingdom') but after firing half of our imagineers who then went to Universal, Eisner sold it to Universal. That is why Spiderman is so great- it was designed by Imagineers using CAVE technology developed for Disney. Also, Dueling Dragons has Hidden Mickeys on it (I have seen them) because it was supposedly built for Disney before being sold, that is also why the queue is so well themed- again, it was supposed to be a Disney ride.

I don't know if the rumors are true or not. I'm pretty sure that it is true that Eisner fired a bunch of our Imagineers (Possibly aroudn the same time he axed the animation department in Orlando) and they went over to Universal. The rest of it may just be rumor and the Hidden Mickeys on Dueling Dragons may be a coincidence. But it is interesting nevertheless, particularly in light of this deal. I know the article said that it won't change things for Universal, but the CM in me can't help but want for us to reclaim what should have been ours (if the rumors are true.)

And Feralpeg is right, there is not a lot of animosity between Disney and Universal. Heck, I worked with quite a few CMs who were Team Members at Universal.

 

[Feralpeg]

I strongly disagree.

If Universal, Gatorland, and all the attractions in Orlando went out-of-business, Disney would still be a huge a vacation-spot as ever. I don't believe that Disney is working to "promote the community". It doesn't need to. It doesn't need "the community". I've been to WDW many many times and have never set foot in an establishment other than Disney while there, except for MCO. None of my friends have ever gone offsite when being in WDW.

I don't think Disney and Universal are "enemies". What I do believe is that Disney knows it has the economic upper-hand, the popularity upper-hand, and it'll do whatever it takes to make it grow. They aren't singing kumbaya with Universal.





MTE

So, because you and your friends have never ventured off Disney property, you know what the relationship is between the various tourist venues in Orlando? Sorry, but you're wrong.

When Gatorland burned a couple of years ago, Disney and Universal both sent crews over to help rebuild Gatorland. Why? Because, they know that having many different venues only serves to bring more peope to Orlando.

Could Disney survive without the others? Probably, but that doesn't mean that they are out to bring the other parks down. That isn't the way it works here.

 

[Aisling]

Could Disney survive without the others? Probably, but that doesn't mean that they are out to bring the other parks down. That isn't the way it works here.

Could Disney survive without the others? You say probably. I say absolutely.

And who said they are out to bring the other parks down?? Why the exaggeration? I said Disney is a business. Universal is a business. They are owned by separate entities that want to succeed and make money. They don't sit around discussing how to join together to promote the community. If it weren't for WDW, the Orlando area would not be a MAJOR tourist attraction, the top family vacation destination in the world. People don't come over from Brazil, Japan and the UK to visit Gatorland.

 

[Aisling]

And Feralpeg is right, there is not a lot of animosity between Disney and Universal. Heck, I worked with quite a few CMs who were Team Members at Universal.

I never thought there was animosity between Disney CMs and Universal TMs. But I do believe there is competition between the two companies.

Anyone remember the Universal TV commercials that said something like "when you've had enough fairy tales and pixie dust..."?

 

[Feralpeg]

Could Disney survive without the others? You say probably. I say absolutely.

And who said they are out to bring the other parks down?? Why the exaggeration? I said Disney is a business. Universal is a business. They are owned by separate entities that want to succeed and make money. They don't sit around discussing how to join together to promote the community. If it weren't for WDW, the Orlando area would not be a MAJOR tourist attraction, the top family vacation destination in the world. People don't come over from Brazil, Japan and the UK to visit Gatorland.

I may not have phrased it the best. To me, your post sounded like Disney is only in it for Disney. It sounded like they could care less about Universal and the rest of the tourist venues here. I was trying to say that that is not the case. They help each other and they help the community.

You may not think that Disney cares about promoting the community, but you would be wrong. Both companies have individuals who are part of community development committees. They do sit around and try to decide how to make Orlando a better tourist destination. Just recently, a famous fountain at Lake Eola in Orlando took a lightening strike. The cost to fix the system would be close to 1 million dollars. The city has insurance, but the deductible is almost $500k. The city turned to the tourist venues to help. They will be donating money to get the fountain fixed.

When I worked for Disney, the CMs had many opportunities to join community improvement projects. Disney puts a lot of effort into helping the community. Last year, I attended a promotion that raised money for local schools. It was held at the Amway Arena. Hundreds attended. The ushers and helpers for the promotion were all cast members from Universal.

I'm not saying that these companies don't look out for their own interests, but they do have a stake in the community. Orlando is actually a pretty tight community.

 

[Feralpeg]

I never thought there was animosity between Disney CMs and Universal TMs. But I do believe there is competition between the two companies.

Anyone remember the Universal TV commercials that said something like "when you've had enough fairy tales and pixie dust..."?

Funny you should mention those commercials. People all over the place got huffy about them. The people I know that work for Disney didn't. My next door neighbor is an Imagineer for Disney. He hires a lot of the entertainment people for the parks around the world. He thought it was a great commercial.

When they played the commercial where the kid said that if he saw another princess he was going to barf, my daughter was dating the son of the VP in charge of the financial department at WDW. We actually talked about that commercial because I thought it was hysterical. He thought the same thing.

There is competition. They both want to make money, but it isn't a nasty competition.

Just to clarify something, I just heard on the news that Disney announced that Universal has the rights to the Marvel characters for as long as they want. They did say that Disney plans to use some of the characters at their parks as well to appeal to boys.

 

[Aisling]

There is competition. They both want to make money, but it isn't a nasty competition.

Just to clarify something, I just heard on the news that Disney announced that Universal has the rights to the Marvel characters for as long as they want. They did say that Disney plans to use some of the characters at their parks as well to appeal to boys.

We agree.


I wonder why Disney didn't find some other way to appeal to the teen boy demographic. I can't seem to separate Universal and Marval in my mind!

 

[Feralpeg]

We agree.


I wonder why Disney didn't find some other way to appeal to the teen boy demographic. I can't seem to separate Universal and Marval in my mind!

I wonder the same thing. They have tons of opportunities with their classic characters. For such a creative company, sometimes I think they are really a bit short sighted. That's one of the reasons I no longer work there...but that's another story.

 

[raysnkaysmom]

The article below answers a lot of questions-

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/orl-bk-disney-marvel-entertainment-083109,0,2559631.story

that does bring some light in... thanks!

 

[flafan]

This should be interesting to see how it plays out over the years.
I am a BIG Universal fan

 

[bicker]

Just to clarify something, I just heard on the news that Disney announced that Universal has the rights to the Marvel characters for as long as they want. They did say that Disney plans to use some of the characters at their parks as well to appeal to boys.

Just to be clear: I believe that Universal has perpetual rights to two Marvel characters (really two sets of characters), Spiderman and Hulk, and only has those rights east of the Mississippi. I suspect that they have rights to other characters on a term basis. Either way, continued usage of these characters by Universal would benefit Disney, since FWIR Universal pays a percentage of ticket revenues as long as the attractions remain in place, and I would guess that they pay a fee for usage of other characters.

Along those lines, even though Universal has the rights to continuing using Hulk as the theme of its entry roller coaster, I thought I read a rumor that they were thinking of redressing the roller coaster to be an entry to the new Harry Potter attraction area....

 

[Feralpeg]

Along those lines, even though Universal has the rights to continuing using Hulk as the theme of its entry roller coaster, I thought I read a rumor that they were thinking of redressing the roller coaster to be an entry to the new Harry Potter attraction area....

The Hulk Coaster is in the Marvel Island area of IOA. The roller coaster that is being redressed for Harry Potter is Dueling Dragons.

 

[bicker]

Thanks for the correction. Glad to know my memory isn't completely wrong.

 

[dawson5]

Spidermickey
Spidermickey
does what ever spider can

More mashups here:

http://superpunch.blogspot.com/2009/08/more-disneymarvel-mashups_31.html

Friend on another site, big comic book fan had this to say:

I wouldn't worry too much - pretty often, when a company acquires another company, they don't mess too much with a proven formula.

Disney does film and merchandising well - owning Marvel properties was probably the driving factor, not remaking them. Recall that Warner Brothers bought DC some years ago, and if there were any major changes, they were invisible to the audience. Disney also didn't mess too much with ABC, who gives us Desperate Housewives, LOST, etc., none of which are for kids. And then, of course, there's Miramax.

I thought it was a good thought on this. Seems like comic book fans are pretty upset about this.

 

[ChristmasElf]

Almost surely not. WDW is owned by Disney. US is owned by NBC Universal. These are two of the biggest media conglomerates in the United States, and there is no reason why they would want to, or be able to, combine any of their assets.

NBC and Universal Studios are both owned by GE. And GE is not selling either one of them.

 

[bicker]

I wouldn't be sure that GE won't sell NBC Universal. There were a lot of rumors of them doing just that, before the bottom fell out of the market. Once things start climbing again, I expect to see GE entertaining offers (though they still might not sell).

However, there is no way that they'd be allowed to sell NBCU, or any significant part of NBCU, to DIS.

 

[sbell111]

I may not have phrased it the best. To me, your post sounded like Disney is only in it for Disney. It sounded like they could care less about Universal and the rest of the tourist venues here. I was trying to say that that is not the case. They help each other and they help the community.

You may not think that Disney cares about promoting the community, but you would be wrong. Both companies have individuals who are part of community development committees. They do sit around and try to decide how to make Orlando a better tourist destination. Just recently, a famous fountain at Lake Eola in Orlando took a lightening strike. The cost to fix the system would be close to 1 million dollars. The city has insurance, but the deductible is almost $500k. The city turned to the tourist venues to help. They will be donating money to get the fountain fixed.

When I worked for Disney, the CMs had many opportunities to join community improvement projects. Disney puts a lot of effort into helping the community. Last year, I attended a promotion that raised money for local schools. It was held at the Amway Arena. Hundreds attended. The ushers and helpers for the promotion were all cast members from Universal.

I'm not saying that these companies don't look out for their own interests, but they do have a stake in the community. Orlando is actually a pretty tight community.

It's true that Disney works hard at being a good member of the community. That doesn't mean that it would go out of it's way to help US, at all.

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

 

[Patch'sD]

Disney just paid $ 4.0 Billion for a comic book company, Remember when your parents told you to put that crap down it will rot your brain out.


Also Remember

First Came the Magic Kingdom and Epcot. I4 and 192 Hotels begot more resorts than first four, Universal Studios begot MGM, Rosie O'Grady's begot Downtown Disney, Seaworld begot Animal Kingdom, and there is still no answer from Disney on Island's of Adventure. It was the competition that pushed Disney to create. Without the competition you would be staring at a theme park and a few Disney Execs idea of Walt's Epcot should be