Another Step in the Disney's quest for media domination

[Schupac]

I just can't wait for the Disney/Marvel crossover comics with Wolverine cutting off Mickey Mouse's ear, before they realize they really should be combining efforts to stop Doctor Doom and Scrooge McDuck from cornering the world hot chocolate market in an effort to change the weather patterns over Florida and ruin THE GREATEST PLACE ON EARTH!

(I lost it at work when a coworker started talking like Wolverine in a Mickey Mouse voice... you want some of this, bub?).

More seriously, I don't think this will risk the comic books at all.  Lately Marvel has been making tons of money off their films and related media which is what I think Disney wants a piece of.  And as others have pointed out, Disney own tons of other companies.  They don't "disnefy" everything.

[LarBrd33]

I am just curious how this will affect Universal Studios Florida.  I am heading down to Florida in about a month, and planned on spending a day there.  But they had a bunch of rides that were based on Marvel characters (Hulk Coaster, Spiderman ride...maybe more).  I wouldn't put it past Disney to make them close them down immediately.

That's an interesting question.  "Islands of Adventure" (with the marvel rides) is my favorite theme park.  I'm kinda curious to see if this has any effect on that... will Disney be able to create marvel-themed rides at their parks and stuff?  Will Universal have to close their Marvel-themed rides?  I'm sure there is some longstanding contract in place that looks after these sorts of things. 

My guess is it won't be long before Disney has its own Marvel themed park or at least section of a park.  There is just too much potential there.  They lost out on Harry Potter to Universal, so I think they are going to make this one hurt.

This also might be a hit to Six Flags, who also have many Marvel themed rides.

This is a very interesting observation and one that I thought of automatically...the thing is Marvel Super Hero Land is just one of the islands at Islands of Aventure (they also have Seuss Landing, the Lost Contient, Jurassic Park, Toon Lagoon, and soon they will have Harry Potter). The problem is that two of their most popular rides are in Marvel Super Hero Land (the Hulk roller coaster and Spiderman). I think they could retheme the Hulk roller coaster into something else, but the Spiderman 3D ride is pretty Spiderman specific, so it would be a shame to just shut that down...

Basically what I am saying is- yes, it probably will affect Universal's Islands of Adventure eventually, but it certainly won't shut the whole park down. They might just have a little re-tooling to do...


I thought Six Flags had DC rides. At least thats whats in Springfield.

fairweatherfan already posted an article that shows that the Marvel rides at Universal will stay the same, but I just wanted to comment on the Spider-man ride.   You'd think that it would be pretty specific for Spider-man, but I went to Universal in Hollywood this year and noticed that they replaced my favorite ride of all time (Back 2 the Future) with a Simpsons themed ride.  It's essentially the same exact ride with a different skin.  I'm sure if they absolutely had to, they could just replace the content of the Spider-man ride in the same fashion.

[dark_lord]

i LOVE this move.  i am a HUGE fan of both disney and marvel, so im very happy and excited to see where this leads.  this will be great for movies, marketing, merger projects like video game (think kingdom heart, but with marvel characters instead of final fantasy), theme park additions, etc. 

this definitely made my day!

[dark_lord]

one other thing.....disney has been airing old marvel cartoons for years on toon disney (now disney xd).  they air spiderman and his amazing friends, spiderman, x-men, hulk, and fantastic four.  so the two have had a previous relationship.

[Chris]

I am just curious how this will affect Universal Studios Florida.  I am heading down to Florida in about a month, and planned on spending a day there.  But they had a bunch of rides that were based on Marvel characters (Hulk Coaster, Spiderman ride...maybe more).  I wouldn't put it past Disney to make them close them down immediately.

That's an interesting question.  "Islands of Adventure" (with the marvel rides) is my favorite theme park.  I'm kinda curious to see if this has any effect on that... will Disney be able to create marvel-themed rides at their parks and stuff?  Will Universal have to close their Marvel-themed rides?  I'm sure there is some longstanding contract in place that looks after these sorts of things. 

My guess is it won't be long before Disney has its own Marvel themed park or at least section of a park.  There is just too much potential there.  They lost out on Harry Potter to Universal, so I think they are going to make this one hurt.

This also might be a hit to Six Flags, who also have many Marvel themed rides.

This is a very interesting observation and one that I thought of automatically...the thing is Marvel Super Hero Land is just one of the islands at Islands of Aventure (they also have Seuss Landing, the Lost Contient, Jurassic Park, Toon Lagoon, and soon they will have Harry Potter). The problem is that two of their most popular rides are in Marvel Super Hero Land (the Hulk roller coaster and Spiderman). I think they could retheme the Hulk roller coaster into something else, but the Spiderman 3D ride is pretty Spiderman specific, so it would be a shame to just shut that down...

Basically what I am saying is- yes, it probably will affect Universal's Islands of Adventure eventually, but it certainly won't shut the whole park down. They might just have a little re-tooling to do...


I thought Six Flags had DC rides. At least thats whats in Springfield.

fairweatherfan already posted an article that shows that the Marvel rides at Universal will stay the same, but I just wanted to comment on the Spider-man ride.   You'd think that it would be pretty specific for Spider-man, but I went to Universal in Hollywood this year and noticed that they replaced my favorite ride of all time (Back 2 the Future) with a Simpsons themed ride.  It's essentially the same exact ride with a different skin.  I'm sure if they absolutely had to, they could just replace the content of the Spider-man ride in the same fashion.

They absolutely could.  I believe it is just a combination of a motion ride with 3D.  They could put in a lot of different story-lines/characters, and that would be successful.  

Universal says their rides will not be affected:

"Universal's contracts apparently gives it exclusive U.S. rights east of the Mississippi River for theme-park attractions built around certain of those characters, notably Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, X-Men and Dr. Doom.

"Marvel Super Hero Island at Universal's Islands of Adventure and the Marvel characters are a beloved and important part of the Universal Orlando experience. They will remain so," said Tom Schroder, a Universal spokesman. "Our guests are going to get to meet Spider-Man and all our other Marvel characters. We believe our agreement with Marvel stands and that the Disney/Marvel deal will have no impact on our guest experience.""

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

Thanks for that.  I was afraid I was going to have to change my plans, because they already may be closing some rides due to construction of the Harry Potter land, and it would make it completely not worth the money to go there if they also closed down the Hulk and Spiderman rides next month.

[dark_lord]

Thanks for that.  I was afraid I was going to have to change my plans, because they already may be closing some rides due to construction of the Harry Potter land, and it would make it completely not worth the money to go there if they also closed down the Hulk and Spiderman rides next month.

its not definite that the attractions will remain open.  according to the quote,

"We believe our agreement with Marvel stands and that the Disney/Marvel deal will have no impact on our guest experience."

key word being "believe".  doesnt sound definitive, rather it sounds hopeful or wishful.  at least thats how im reading it.

[KCattheStripe]

Thanks for that.  I was afraid I was going to have to change my plans, because they already may be closing some rides due to construction of the Harry Potter land, and it would make it completely not worth the money to go there if they also closed down the Hulk and Spiderman rides next month.

its not definite that the attractions will remain open.  according to the quote,

"We believe our agreement with Marvel stands and that the Disney/Marvel deal will have no impact on our guest experience."

key word being "believe".  doesnt sound definitive, rather it sounds hopeful or wishful.  at least thats how im reading it.

Stating their case in the public domain before Disney takes it to the courts. Also, by saying they hold the rights east of the Mississippi that gives Disney the opening to have Marvel Attractions at whichever park is in Cali.

[greg_kite]

I am just curious how this will affect Universal Studios Florida.  I am heading down to Florida in about a month, and planned on spending a day there.  But they had a bunch of rides that were based on Marvel characters (Hulk Coaster, Spiderman ride...maybe more).  I wouldn't put it past Disney to make them close them down immediately.

That's an interesting question.  "Islands of Adventure" (with the marvel rides) is my favorite theme park.  I'm kinda curious to see if this has any effect on that... will Disney be able to create marvel-themed rides at their parks and stuff?  Will Universal have to close their Marvel-themed rides?  I'm sure there is some longstanding contract in place that looks after these sorts of things. 

My guess is it won't be long before Disney has its own Marvel themed park or at least section of a park.  There is just too much potential there.  They lost out on Harry Potter to Universal, so I think they are going to make this one hurt.

This also might be a hit to Six Flags, who also have many Marvel themed rides.

This is a very interesting observation and one that I thought of automatically...the thing is Marvel Super Hero Land is just one of the islands at Islands of Aventure (they also have Seuss Landing, the Lost Contient, Jurassic Park, Toon Lagoon, and soon they will have Harry Potter). The problem is that two of their most popular rides are in Marvel Super Hero Land (the Hulk roller coaster and Spiderman). I think they could retheme the Hulk roller coaster into something else, but the Spiderman 3D ride is pretty Spiderman specific, so it would be a shame to just shut that down...

Basically what I am saying is- yes, it probably will affect Universal's Islands of Adventure eventually, but it certainly won't shut the whole park down. They might just have a little re-tooling to do...


I thought Six Flags had DC rides. At least thats whats in Springfield.

fairweatherfan already posted an article that shows that the Marvel rides at Universal will stay the same, but I just wanted to comment on the Spider-man ride.   You'd think that it would be pretty specific for Spider-man, but I went to Universal in Hollywood this year and noticed that they replaced my favorite ride of all time (Back 2 the Future) with a Simpsons themed ride.  It's essentially the same exact ride with a different skin.  I'm sure if they absolutely had to, they could just replace the content of the Spider-man ride in the same fashion.

They absolutely could.  I believe it is just a combination of a motion ride with 3D.  They could put in a lot of different story-lines/characters, and that would be successful.  

Universal says their rides will not be affected:

"Universal's contracts apparently gives it exclusive U.S. rights east of the Mississippi River for theme-park attractions built around certain of those characters, notably Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, X-Men and Dr. Doom.

"Marvel Super Hero Island at Universal's Islands of Adventure and the Marvel characters are a beloved and important part of the Universal Orlando experience. They will remain so," said Tom Schroder, a Universal spokesman. "Our guests are going to get to meet Spider-Man and all our other Marvel characters. We believe our agreement with Marvel stands and that the Disney/Marvel deal will have no impact on our guest experience.""

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

Thanks for that.  I was afraid I was going to have to change my plans, because they already may be closing some rides due to construction of the Harry Potter land, and it would make it completely not worth the money to go there if they also closed down the Hulk and Spiderman rides next month.

I absolutely love Disney, but that Spiderman ride might be the best ride I've ever been on.

[cdif911]

I'll add in, the spiderman ride is ridiculously awesome, I've been on it at least 6 times in the 2 times I've visited Universal (Btw their horror nights in October is definitely worth going to if you like haunted houses)

[jambr380]

Well, yeah, these 3D rides w/ pseudo-motion are nothing new. Back to the Future needed to be replaced- it was way out of date. They have a similar ride at Disney's Hollywood Studios (Star Wars) and even Sea World has a Polar 3D ride that is fairly recent.

What I mean by one of a kind is that the experience is really one of a kind. With the Hulk roller coaster, they could just paint it a different color, change the 'in-line experience', and call it something else. With Spiderman, he goes around and defeats all these Marvel villains and then saves you with his spiderweb powers at the end. Sure they could make another 3D ride, but this particular ride is totally genius and I just meant that it would be a shame for people not to enjoy this particular ride anymore.

Either way, I am happy to hear that nothing is going to happen in the immediate future, but there is quite a dichotomy between Disney and Universal and I would not be surprised if, one day, they changed those rides over...