Universal Orlando Resort (USO, IOA) Discussion Thread

I think it taking the place of whats left of Lost Continent would make sense attraction wise. I could really see how they could make a new show out of this, but then that really is too close to Potter land.

Who says they are actually going to make a big themed land around this though? It could just be something in a sound stage in the Studios parks.

I'm not a fan, but I really do think this is super close to Harry Potter. Sure there are differences but they both revolve around magic and wizards and all that other nerdy stuff. I think I've only seen one movie each of the Harry Potter and LOTR trilogies, and have no plans to see the Hobbit.

Maybe this could be a replacement for the Marvel stuff, but then would give the majority of the park a pretty similar feel (Potter, Jurassic park, Lost Continent, and Port of entry) and I'm not sure how they would put a spin on the existing attractions. I don't think that is likely though and even though the content is tied to Disney now I think it's still the 2nd most popular area of the park.

^ I don't think distance would be an issue - the whole point of the park is to have different lands that your transition through. Maybe I'm reading you wrong.

I'm not really a fan of the franchise (I've seen the films but couldn't tell you too much about them!) but I think this could be a good move for the park. It won't be as big as potter but if it's even half as successful they'll be onto a winner. There's also potential new life to breathe into the franchise in the future unlike Potter which can only date from this point onwards.

I personally don't see this happening anytime soon if ever. For one, Universal is going to suck every single dollar out of the Potter franchise as they can. I can see every major expansion in the coming years being focused on new areas of Potterverse because it's a proven money maker. We are nearing 3 years that the WWoHP has been open, and it still remains highly popular. The new expansion opening next year is only going to make it even more popular. But the reason why a Harry Potter land works and why I don't think of LotR land would work is the demographic of their respective fanbases. Yes, LotR has a large fanbase, but what percentage of that fanbase is made up of teenagers and young children? I guarantee it is very small. The reason why WWoHP is so big is not because of the adult fans of the series, but rather the teenagers who grew up reading the books and the children who are being introduced to it for the very first time. Not to say there aren't a lot of adult fans of the series, but families bringing their children to live out their fantasy of being a witch/wizard alongside Harry Potter is probably where a bulk of Universal's profit comes from. I just don't see a LotR land having the same appeal. Yes, it will be very popular with the older crowd, but how many teenagers/children do you know that read the LotR books or have seen all the movies? Personally, I'm 23 years old and I've never picked up one of the books or seen the movies. It never really appealed to me growing up. Not to say that I make up the majority, but just to make an example. I just can't see Universal throwing a ton of money on something like a LotR land that is not guaranteed to be a success when they have the Harry Potter franchise at their disposal. There is so much of the series that Universal hasn't even dipped their hand in yet and I don't see Harry Potter attractions stopping until it is shown that it is no longer of interest to the general public.

In closing, I think a LotR ride would be more appropriate and probably wouldn't be as big of a gamble as an entire land/park as people are mentioning. But that's just my two cents.

^ Teens and kids don't book vacations, adults do.

^ Teens and kids don't book vacations, adults do.

Yes, I'm aware of that as I said in my post...

The reason why WWoHP is so big is not because of the adult fans of the series, but rather the teenagers who grew up reading the books and the children who are being introduced to it for the very first time. Not to say there aren't a lot of adult fans of the series, but families bringing their children to live out their fantasy of being a witch/wizard alongside Harry Potter is probably where a bulk of Universal's profit comes from.

I'm not disagreeing with what you're saying, I'm just pointing out that having something like LOTR as a land could make Universal more attractive to adults as well. Harry Potter for the kids, LOTR for teens and adults.

^ Teens and kids don't book vacations, adults do.

Tell that to Hard Rock Park

^ Teens and kids don't book vacations, adults do.

 

Tell that to Hard Rock Park

Huh! I don't think teens and kids booked vacation to Mytrle Beach either.

If this does happen I think daily rap battles between Gandalf and Dumbledore shall be required.

^Agreed. I want to see Frodo taking on Harry, too.

And after giving this post due consideration . . .

^ Teens and kids don't book vacations, adults do.

 

 

Tell that to Hard Rock Park

I'm not disagreeing with what you're saying, I'm just pointing out that having something like LOTR as a land could make Universal more attractive to adults as well. Harry Potter for the kids, LOTR for teens and adults.

Harry Potter is as popular with adults as Lord of the Rings. HP came out 15 years ago so children that came of age with the books and movies are starting to gain disposable income, go on vacations and start families which will help make the Wizarding World stay popular.

Families with 'tweens' and teens go on vacations too (it's pretty much what IOA was built for).

This is what I think Universal is doing. They went to this website: http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/07/the-greatest-movie-franchises-of-all-time/260257/#slide12

and saw which ones they have and others that they can't do. Truthfully, i think they can take any IP and create an attraction out of it. The question is will anyone come?

Here is the list:

1. Indiana Jones - Disney

2. Toy Story - Disney

3. Star Wars - Disney

4. Spiderman - Universal

5. Lord of the Rings - No One

They took the highest one available and they are testing the waters to see if anyone is biting. And I think it is working. We are talking about it. But there are a few other IPs that are interesting:

6. Godfather

10. The Avengers - I don't know if Universal can do anything with this one in Florida.

12. Bourne Identity

14. Mission Impossible

16. The Matrix

21. James Bond

34. Star Trek

37. Twilight

48. Fast and Furious

If Universal is trying to maximize the liscensing of an IP, then I would agree that Lord of the Rings has the most content. But I would also like to see something from any (maybe not Twilight) from the above list. I see Star Trek in the near future. JJ Abrams is doing some great things with that franchise.

A Godfather theme park would be something.

^I'm envisioning a game where you shoot various mobsters and the prize is a canoli. Name of the game? "Leave the Gun, Take the Canoli."

There had better be a shop named "Offers You Can't Refuse."

Hi guys, just letting you all know that if you are planning on visiting IOA in the next three weeks, there will be a downtime on Dragon's Challenge. The attraction will be down from Jan 11th to Jan 26th for improvement of the area. Heads up.

/works there.

Awww Man!

Hi guys, just letting you all know that if you are planning on visiting IOA in the next three weeks, there will be a downtime on Dragon's Challenge. The attraction will be down from Jan 11th to Jan 26th for improvement of the area. Heads up.

 

/works there.

Let me know when they start dueling them again and remove the potter theme! Thanks!

^Maybe they're equipping each train with full-body pelxiglass shields, which would allow dueling again.

^Disney knows how to do that already! Don't give Universal any ideas!

^Maybe they bought the leftover Maliboomer sneeze shields from Disney.

The "improvements" will probably be In queue wand shops...

dt

Phew, we are flying out on February 1st. Just missed the downtime! Hopefully the downtime won't run longer than expected, but they seem pretty good at estimating these sorts of things.

Phew, we are flying out on February 1st. Just missed the downtime! Hopefully the downtime won't run longer than expected, but they seem pretty good at estimating these sorts of things.

I honestly wouldn't expect it, but who knows. We're at the mercy at the techs. I'm being deployed over to Bluto's while the improvements are being done, so I sure hope it won't take long.

Hi guys, just letting you all know that if you are planning on visiting IOA in the next three weeks, there will be a downtime on Dragon's Challenge. The attraction will be down from Jan 11th to Jan 26th for improvement of the area. Heads up.

 

/works there.

 

Let me know when they start dueling them again and remove the potter theme! Thanks!

You'll be the first to know!