Vote of the Week: Should Marvel or Star Wars Be Disney's Top Theme Park Priority?

April 17, 2015, 9:07 AM · Last week, we asked you which of two Universal franchises will be the bigger draw for Universal's theme parks in the years to come: King Kong or Fast & Furious? (You chose Kong, by a wide margin.) This week, we will switch our focus to Disney, and two of its most popular franchises: Star Wars and Marvel.

This year promises to be huge for both Star Wars and Marvel. Yesterday in Anaheim, Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams dropped the second teaser trailer for the new Star Wars film, which debuts this Christmas.

Fans the Star Wars Celebration fan convention were wowed to see that the rolling BB8 droid, featured in the first trailer, is a working, practical device, and not simply a computer-generated animation.

Meanwhile, Marvel is about to open its newest Avengers movie, Avengers: Age of Ultron, with Ant-Man and Fantastic Four on deck for release later this year. Lest you dismiss Ant-Man as sounding silly, don't forget that many people thought the same about Guardians of the Galaxy, which went on to become one of the biggest hits of last year.

But what about in the theme parks? Ah, to quote Emperor Palpatine, "I can feel your anger."

As Disney's poised to rack up one blockbuster hit after another with these franchises in movie theaters, theme parks fans are left with... well, we will get to see these franchises at the movies, right?

Sure, we have the relatively new Star Tours rides at Disney theme parks around the world. And there's Star Wars Weekends coming up at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Florida. As for Marvel, well, we can always head over to Universal's Islands of Adventure.

Why do I suddenly feel a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of Disney fans suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced?

Obi-wan

Here's how we got to this point: Disney bought Marvel Studios for $4 billion in 2009. However, in the 1990s, cash-strapped Marvel sold its theme parks rights to Universal in perpetuity. Universal allowed its rights to the Marvel characters on the west coast lapse by not developing any Marvel projects at Universal Studios Hollywood, but Universal retains the Marvel theme park rights in Florida and Japan, effectively locking out Disney from featuring any Marvel characters in its Walt Disney World and Tokyo Disney theme parks. Disney has announced an Iron Man-themed ride for Hong Kong Disneyland, which will open late next year. Disney's created Marvel meet and greets in Walt Disney Studios Paris, but closed its main Marvel meet and greet location in Anaheim's Disneyland with the shuttering of the Innovations pavilion.

Iron Man Experience
Disney's concept art for the Iron Man Experience ride, coming to Hong Kong Disneyland

As for Star Wars, Disney bought creator Lucasfilm for another $4 billion, in 2012. Disney soon after that greenlit a Star Wars land for Disney's Hollywood Studios, but halted the project during the development of the new Star Wars film. Walt Disney Imagineering has spitballed enough Star Wars Land designs for Hollywood Studios and Disneyland at this point to build its own life-sized Death Star, but fans don't feel any closer to ordering a drink in a theme park version of the Mos Eisley Cantina than they were before Disney bought Lucasfilm.

So where does Disney go from here? Yeah, this is the theme park version of "First World Problems" — which of these wildly successful franchises should Disney work on next? But theme parks fans are growing increasingly frustrated by the thought that the answer will be "none of the above."

Let's consider the creative potential for each franchise in a theme park setting, the size of the potential market for each franchise, and the expense of developing these franchises in Disney's parks. Then let's put the question to a vote:


Let's break it down, in the comments.

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Replies (55)

April 17, 2015 at 9:13 AM · Star Wars... absolutely, no question. If Disney put the effort into Star Wars that Universal has into Harry Potter they could create something truly amazing! But I'm not holding my breath.....
April 17, 2015 at 9:19 AM · Is there any legal way Disney can get Marvel into WDW? I guess it's wishful thinking, but a 5th park with both, please.
April 17, 2015 at 9:30 AM · i chose star wars because of what Universal already has...only issue with Star Wars is what place do you build
Star wars be acclimated into a theme park will be interesting
April 17, 2015 at 9:48 AM · STAR WARS !!!
April 17, 2015 at 9:50 AM · more original rides like the amazing Mystic Manor!
April 17, 2015 at 9:52 AM · Because of the inability to build Marvel in Florida the easy answer is star wars. Disney has more room in Florida than it does in Anaheim. The question is will they do it right?
April 17, 2015 at 10:06 AM · I'm a huge fan of both IPs. If feel that Marvel lends itself better to attraction development because of the great number of super powers that you could use to translate into a theme park experience. However, I think Star Wars has greater potential for a themed land since it's locations are more fantastic than NYC which is where a majority of Marvel stories take place.
April 17, 2015 at 10:08 AM · Give me a dark ride that takes me through the Hoth AT-AT battle, dammit. NOT ANOTHER MOVIE SIMULATION. An actual animatronic, large-scale Hoth battle. And I'd book travel to that theme park in a hot second.
April 17, 2015 at 10:15 AM · Star Wars because this story line is full of exotic locations. Marvel is basically centered on big city streets.
April 17, 2015 at 10:34 AM · STAR WARS! STAR WARS! STAR WARS!

Finally, for once I am in the majority! But I think this boils down to a generational issue. I'm guessing the older among us (I was 13 when Star Wars first tore across the big screen) lean toward the legacy and mythology we lived and breathed in our youths, whereas, today's youngsters are growing up all things Marvel.

But I can't stop dreaming of the day when I can pay Disney my money to step into a truly immersive Star Wars land. Mos Eisley cantina. Death Star. Hoth ice world. The whole nine parsecs.

Wake me for the grand opening and watch this fangirl go into freakin' orbit!

April 17, 2015 at 10:38 AM · STAR WARS, mostly because I'm a Disney World partisan, and therefore don't much care what Disney does with Marvel attractions in their other parks. The world of STAR WARS offers nearly limitless possibilities, as well, and I'm sure the land in Hollywood Studios will be terrific... when it finally opens in 2030...
April 17, 2015 at 10:43 AM · My real answer is both, but I'd have to go Star Wars due to the potential for themed environments. It's really needed at the Hollywood Studios in particular, and there is so much wasted space in that park.
April 17, 2015 at 10:46 AM · Marvel, but only because this means that Disneyland and Disney World will have more differences between them. As a themepark fan I hate all the duplication in so many parks.
April 17, 2015 at 10:47 AM · Neither. My son and I try to avoid the Star Wars area of DHS and, if it wasn't for The Hulk & Spiderman rides, we'd skip Marvel Superhero Island at USIOA.
April 17, 2015 at 10:50 AM · I also have to go with Star Wars. The scope and breadth of that universe makes even the MCU seem like a kiddie land. Seeing what JJ has done with TFA, I don't think fans could have asked for a more "authentic" look, and hopes for a smashing success could not be higher after yesterday's trailer reveal. Theme park fans can have similar hopes, but because of "Disney Speed" it will likely be a decade or more before we see anything resembling a fully fleshed out Star Wars land in a Disney park.

Just for clarification, Fantastic 4 is a Marvel property, but is distributed by 20th Century Fox, just like X-Men. Disney/Marvel had to negotiate a pretty sizable sum with Sony to restore control of the Spiderman brand, and a similar agreement would need to be in place for them to get back Fantastic 4 and X-Men.

April 17, 2015 at 10:56 AM · I voted for Star Wars for the same reason, that Disney should allow Universal to keep Marvel at IOA. My only wish is that Disney keep the Movie themes exclusively in Disney's Hollywood(land) Studios and greatly reduce the over saturation at the other three parks. I'd love to see Disney really focus on expanding their Movie Park into a real powerhouse. Making it truly a full day park and one to keep as a strong competitor to Universal thus only making them better as a result. Subsequently We as guest come out as the winners.
April 17, 2015 at 11:17 AM · It's an easy choice for Star Wars. Marvel keeps me in the boring present age albeit one with superheroes but it's not a special or particularly interesting place to visit. Star Was is a fantastic universe far, far away from our everyday reality; I want to visit that special place when in a theme park.
And Ant-Man sounds too stupid; at least Guardians of the Galaxy had a cool title working for it.
April 17, 2015 at 11:21 AM · "Is there any legal way Disney can get Marvel into WDW?"

Yes, and it involved writing a large check to NBCUniversal. I remain convinced that Disney and Universal were talking about the Marvel rights in a deal that also would have included releasing Steven Spielberg from DreamWorks' contract with Disney so that he could return to Universal, but Spielberg changed his mind and decided to stay put. (I have heard that those discussions were part of the reason why Universal rushed so quickly to build Transformers in USF -- it would have had to close Spider-Man in IOA for a long period to convert it to another theme and didn't want to go for a long time without a motion-base 3D ride at the resort.)

So Disney can have the Orlando theme park rights to Marvel anytime it wishes to write a check big enough that NBCUniversal would choose to relinquish them. But I doubt that Disney really wants to fund its rival's expansion, and I suspect that Universal rather enjoys keeping Marvel out of Disney's hands in Florida.

Still, money talks and successful businesses listen.

April 17, 2015 at 11:41 AM · I say star wars. And kick the big blue aliens from pandora to the curb.

And I actually liked Avatar, but it's still just one movie. While good, who knows if the sequels will be good and Disney is investing all this money assuming they will be. But what if they aren't? Why not spend that money on star wars, which they know has a following. It's just never made sense to me.

April 17, 2015 at 11:44 AM · Star Wars. Disney has not shown me they will be as aggressive as Universal in their rides, so why compete?
April 17, 2015 at 12:11 PM · I would like to see Star Wars, but I actually think Marvel is better suited for a theme park. Since the stories take place in regular city locations, it would be a lot easier to incorporate a Marvel attraction into existing facades. With Star Wars, an entirely new, likely large-scale park area would have to be fully dedicated to the Star Wars universe if they intend to successfully compete with Universal. Plus, there is the added complication of so many different landscapes to choose from. How do you combine different worlds seamlessly in a small area, as compared to other IPs that are more cohesive?

Also, when will this be happening, 2025?

April 17, 2015 at 12:14 PM · Star Wars is a bigger priority than Marvel. Star Wars fans have waited longer and are more rabid than Harry Potter. Marvel fans are more dispersed between the various characters.
April 17, 2015 at 12:58 PM · There is no question, and Disney knows it. The Disney stock increased two billion dollars just due to the release of a trailer of the next Star Wars movie. Let that sink in. Two billion due to a commercial. The answer is Star Wars. I will say this, and I have been saying it for years. Disney's problems at its theme parks are crowd control. The FP+ is not solving the problem, and their parks have been falling off in quality compared to Universal. The solution is not expanding Hollywood Studios with a Star Wars land. The solution is another theme park devoted only to Star Wars. Hotels, shops, restaurants, everything. At least in Orlando they must have a fifth gate. They probably could get by with a sixth gate, but the last thing they need to do is add one E ticket and a restaurant to DHS and call it done. Harry Potter is great, and I love going there, but how popular will it be 20 years from now? Star Wars will ALWAYS be popular. I understand their reasoning to holding off due to the first movie, but I think they are simply throwing money away. They need a Star Wars park.
April 17, 2015 at 1:04 PM · While Marvel is probably the hotter ticket at the moment, I have to go with Star Wars. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is too new to prove that it has long term popularity and if the franchise dies out after Disney makes a huge investment it could be a devastating loss for the company. Star Wars, on the other hand, is approaching 40 years and is still a very popular franchise, so a Star Wars land would be a guaranteed success. I think it would be smartest for Disney to get Star Wars in the parks ASAP (ideally with Star Wars lands ready for the completion of the sequel trilogy in 2019) and then wait until they are sure Marvel's popularity will continue beyond Phase Three before developing anything more than individual attractions.
April 17, 2015 at 1:11 PM · Star Wars has a lot more theme park potential, with all of its worlds, oddball characters and environments. Plus, they've more or less announced a Star Wars land coming up for one or both American resorts. If they somehow failed to give us any more SW in the parks within the next decade, I think fans would be up in arms.
April 17, 2015 at 1:23 PM · I'm a big fan of both franchises, so having to pick one over the other was difficult. And, though I am strongly opinionated, I've always tried to respect other people's opinions and hate it when people on the internet bash on other people for having a differing opinion. Now, with that said and done:

I think Marvel is a much better option and I can't fathom why I'm in the minority here.

Now, being a Floridian, this means Marvel won't be coming anywhere near me. However, I still have IOA to give me my Marvel fix and Disney still has 3 seperate parks on 3 seperate continents to work with. And, let's be honest, we don't really need a Star Wars Land. The only thing that's really missing is a restaurant based on the cantina from "A New Hope." Other than that, it's got everything! You want the Battle of Hoth? They're's an entire scene for that in Star Tours! You want lightsabers? They're' an entire show where kids learn how to use them! Heck, you even get to construct your own lightsabers in the gift shop! You want the Death Star? Darth Vader? Yoda? Boba Fett? Wookies? They're all there! And quite frankly, to devote such a large portion of the park to just one franchise would destroy the spirit of the Studios! Unlike Universal, which mainly focuses on whatever movies are still relevant, Hollywood Studios is a loving tribute to both the classic and the contemporary. This park created my love for classic cinema, starting my transformation into the movie buff I am today. Otherwise, the entire park wold just be Universal Studios 2.0! Lastly, the fact that Marvel is multiple franchises rolled into one gives it MUCH more potential than Star Wars could ever hope to have. In addition to blasting through the skies with Iron Man, you could battle Frost Giants with Thor, go on a WWII expedition with Cap, blast some aliens with the Guardians of the Galaxy, etc. Disney has already given us all the Star Wars we could possibly have. Why not explore some possible new territory with Marvel?

PS, only a fraction of the MARVEL movies (or at least the ones Disney owns) take place in NYC.

April 17, 2015 at 2:01 PM · Anaheim is still tweaking Cars Land, so let's focus on getting Star Wars built in Florida. WDW is way behind in responding to the boy wizard down the road.
April 17, 2015 at 3:04 PM · Star Wars obviously.

I would even be okay with Disney changing Animal Kingdom's Avatar-land into an Ewok village. It could be and should be done!

April 17, 2015 at 9:15 PM · Not sure there is an either/or situation here. Disney makes about $1.5B in profit per quarter, so they have plenty of money to fund development of Star Wars, Marvel, Avatar, and whatever else (Frozen) they want to develop. The immediate need is to ramp up DHS (or whatever it will be called) and Star Wars seems like a good fit. On the West Coast, Marvel would, could, and should make an appearance - let Universal keep the Marvel rights in Florida as their Spider-Man ride is genius and Disney has to love getting all the free publicity (and Marvel merchandise sales) in a competitor's park. Avatar construction is well underway (thankfully - because the idea of an Ewok village ever being built is far more cringe-worthy than all of the "I love you" lines from Attack of the Clowns Clones combined) and seems set to impress even the doubters. Frozen already has a big presence in the parks and will get bigger when the Frozen ride opens in Epcot in 2016 (and let's face it, Epcot needs more help than a Frozen attraction in and of itself can offer).

So I guess the answer to your question is, "Disney should focus on Star Wars (DHS) AND Marvel (DLR) AND Avatar (DAK) AND Epcot."

April 17, 2015 at 3:45 PM · I wanted to see a Marvel Weekends at Disney California Adventure.
April 17, 2015 at 4:10 PM · This is a great vote of the week, but I think the more interesting question is WHY Disney hasn't done anything with these hugely-popular franchises since acquiring them (and that has been a few years now). Aren't the parks more profitable than ever? If Universal can build in new land in a few short years, I'm confused about is preventing Disney from doing so.
April 17, 2015 at 4:13 PM · A new Star Wars gate and go all Disney Pixar animation with DHS. If WDW needs a new gate due to the crowd, this is the obvious choice. If Disney wants a new location different from Anaheim and Orlando, this could be the cornerstone.

Center the park with the Death Star. Same concept but a little different presentation than Epcot, though the partially constructed star would better fit the glacial Disney development pace.

I would love to see a couple of higher thrill roller coasters that fits with this audience. Picture the pod race with a launch coaster system and 3 tracks representing different pods. The unique part would be that the entire ride would be low to the ground, something not really done with any current coaster. Mid-ride launches and braking becomes an integral part of the story.

The second coaster would be a dark ride coaster hybrid featuring the final attack against the Death Star. Perfect to place right behind the Death Star in the back of the park not visible from the entryway. Slower dark ride start, mid-ride launch into the climax featuring the missile dropping into the star at the peak of a run up the back of the star. Then accelerate back into a dark area for the escape and a triumphant return to the base at the exit. The queues really would be as much part of this ride as the ride itself itself.

April 17, 2015 at 4:35 PM · Suzy...

As a bean counter, I would suspect that Disney sat on these acquisitions to get some returns on their investments. After all money isn't free. They spent shareholder and bondholder money -- people that expect some returns. Also, before they outlay more cash to develop the properties they need to do strategic planning. They are probably less agile than NBC/Universal due to the size and breadth of operations. Some like to talk about synergy and vertical integration. However, sometimes it's a huge mess that doesn't necessarily work, has competing interests and can't turn on a dime.

April 17, 2015 at 6:59 PM · Star wars easily wins this. You could build a star wars land in every single disney resort based on a completely different location in the saga and have it be a completely different experience. Could you do that with marvel? No way.
April 17, 2015 at 7:52 PM · There's no argument that Marvel and Harry Potter are not extremely popular and probably will continue to be for the next 50 years. But, Star Wars extreme popularity survived 3 recent, disappointing movies. What will it be like if the next 6 movies are well loved by the fans? Marvel properties could have some really cool rides, but I must say when someone mentioned a dark ride with the Hoth battle--yes that is a ride that would be amazing!

I think Star Wars is more popular than Marvel and that is what is mostly responsible for the vote. Everyone's preferences are subjective, but I think there are reasons why Star Wars is more popular. More people were exposed to Star Wars in the 70s and 80s than read comic books. Star Wars may connect more with people because many people in their 30s and 40s were amazed by it as kids and introduced their kids to it. It also has some very classic story arcs that have resonated with people for centuries. Also, I think Star Wars is more popular with women than Marvel comics. In the comic books women are pretty scantily clad and I think there are even some story lines where the super hero women are raped and many times that they get crazy and turn into villains which is really not cool since powerful women in the real world are often portrayed as crazy or at least derided and not trusted ....and even in the modern TV cartoons the women super heroes are portrayed as weaker than the males. I shouldn't have to hear my daughter who loves super heroes ask me why none of the girl superheroes are tough like the boys. There have not been many female led Super Hero movies even though movie like the Hunger Games with a female lead have done well at the box office.---Not that Leia isn't scantily clad at Jabba's palace, but that is the only time and it is because of a gross character that is demeaning her on purpose and she kills him with the chains he kept her in. She is pretty tough throughout the whole movie. Actually now my daughter prefers the Disney fairies to super heroes because she says they are tough and in the latest movie she remarked happily that all the Scout Fairies that protect Pixie Hollow are girls. I think this is the reason that comic books haven't been as popular with women which translates into a smaller female fan base for Marvel.

As far as the delay goes, it makes sense that they want the new stuff in the park attractions, but due to secrecy reasons there is no way they could build that before the first movie is out so that sounds like a plausible reason for the delay.

April 17, 2015 at 11:55 PM · DHS desperately needs Star Wars, so it got my vote.
April 18, 2015 at 12:41 AM · I love and have loved both franchises from the get-go. Star Wars IV, the first release remains one of the movies I've seen most; I haven't kept track but it may be into triple digits. I missed the "real" beginning of Marvel by maybe a year. I started buying Marvels for a friend of mine in the '60's (when he was grounded) and he'd have this one then that one and suddenly, I had my own collection. Still have, much to my mother's dismay.

The only thing I find odd is that many on here have said that Star Wars predates Marvel and therefore there's a lot more fans. Which is just wrong. Marvel comics started in the early '60's. If you're talking about movies, OK. But Spidey was also on TV long before SW. Many of those shows, especially the live action ones, are pretty forgettable. But, arguably, so are the last three W movies to be released. -Mark Kausch

April 18, 2015 at 5:12 AM · I'm a big fan of both franchises, so having to pick one over the other was difficult. And, though I am strongly opinionated, I've always tried to respect other people's opinions and hate it when people on the internet bash on other people for having a differing opinion. Now, with that said and done:

I think Marvel is a much better option and I can't fathom why I'm in the minority here.

Now, being a Floridian, this means Marvel won't be coming anywhere near me. However, I still have IOA to give me my Marvel fix and Disney still has 3 seperate parks on 3 seperate continents to work with. And, let's be honest, we don't really need a Star Wars Land. The only thing that's really missing is a restaurant based on the cantina from "A New Hope." Other than that, it's got everything! You want the Battle of Hoth? They're's an entire scene for that in Star Tours! You want lightsabers? They're' an entire show where kids learn how to use them! Heck, you even get to construct your own lightsabers in the gift shop! You want the Death Star? Darth Vader? Yoda? Boba Fett? Wookies? They're all there! And quite frankly, to devote such a large portion of the park to just one franchise would destroy the spirit of the Studios! Unlike Universal, which mainly focuses on whatever movies are still relevant, Hollywood Studios is a loving tribute to both the classic and the contemporary. This park created my love for classic cinema, starting my transformation into the movie buff I am today. Otherwise, the entire park wold just be Universal Studios 2.0! Lastly, the fact that Marvel is multiple franchises rolled into one gives it MUCH more potential than Star Wars could ever hope to have. In addition to blasting through the skies with Iron Man, you could battle Frost Giants with Thor, go on a WWII expedition with Cap, blast some aliens with the Guardians of the Galaxy, etc. Disney has already given us all the Star Wars we could possibly have. Why not explore some possible new territory with Marvel?

PS, only a fraction of the MARVEL movies (or at least the ones Disney owns) take place in NYC.

April 18, 2015 at 5:43 AM · I have a question. If Star Wars Land does see the final development stages, (which really shouldn't happen) Disney is going to call it something other than Star Wars Land, right? I think we can all agree that "Star Wars Land" is a bit of a dumb name (though it is kinda catchy)
April 18, 2015 at 5:58 AM · If Disney were going to go the Marvel route, they'd have to be ready to drop on day 1 a better experience than currently at Unviersal, otherwise they'll always be in the former's shadow.

With Star Wars, there's a greater ability to start with a partial core, and expand out later, with nothing direct to compare it to. Star wars would be the better, (I would say logical, but thats the wrong series) decision.

April 18, 2015 at 7:17 AM · I want a Howard the Duck meet and greet. What happened to all the moving eye/talking character enhancements? Howard the Duck was way ahead of the game.
April 18, 2015 at 8:12 AM · I don't think either should be a priority. I wish Disney and other theme parks would create rides that aren't tied into movies. It's like the entire industry is stuck in a gotta-be-a-movie-tie-in rut. I believe rides would be even better if Imagineers were allowed to imagineer rather than copy something that's already been done.
April 18, 2015 at 4:26 PM · It boggles my mind that Disney have been sitting on the rights for more Star Wars attractions for over 3 years and we're still no closer to seeing them come to life. Disney's getting by on a lot of goodwill from older theme park fans and a certain chilly movie from younger ones, but it can't last forever.
April 19, 2015 at 2:24 AM · Even tho im a massive star wars fan. I think marvel would be a bigger franchise as kids today love marvel,more than star wars imo
April 19, 2015 at 5:19 AM · That's a good point. Nowadays, movie-based attractions seem to have become almost a priority, with non-movie-based attractions being kinda shoved to the side. However, there is one very big reason for that...branding. Whenever you slap the name of a popular franchise onto something, it's almost guaranteed to have unbearably long wait times. That's why all the movies that make lots of money nowadays are sequels, prequels, reboots and spinoffs. However, theme parks take it one step further by letting you be a part of those movies. Wouldn't you wanna navigate through a trench to blow up the Death Star like in Star Wars? Wouldn't you wanna explore the classrooms and corridors of Hogwarts like in Harry Potter? But don't worry, I
still foresee non-movie-based attractions in our near-future! Surely, Disney will make more rides furthering the Society of Explorers and Adventurers story plot, whose featured attractions so far seem to be non-movie-based.
April 19, 2015 at 2:26 PM · The Star Wars event this weekend in Anaheim shows how popular it is. There are some recreations of the Star Wars landmarks like the Cantina on Tatoonie and the chessboard on the Millenium Falcon. People want to be the characters and be in the environments with other believers. Long live Star Wars.
April 19, 2015 at 2:41 PM · Wait...would Marvel's contract with Universal extend to DisneyQuest? Cause if so, they could just convert that whole thing into a Marvel-themed indoor park. It could work as it'd be less expensive than building an entire themed land.
April 19, 2015 at 6:34 PM · See very little point in the discussion ... the current CEO has shown zero interest in renovating the parks, adding new attractions of any substance. And the little bits and bobs they do take nigh on decades to get finished.

Unfortunately we have to wait for a new CEO who might show the parks some love.

April 19, 2015 at 8:50 PM · They should bring that BB-8 Droid to the theme parks. Guests would go nuts.
April 20, 2015 at 2:22 AM · im a massive star wars fan and really like marvel. but i think marvel at the moment is more popular for the younger people so i think marvel themed area would be great. but i also think star wars will get even bigger after this years film comes out. why cant we have both if there so popular
April 20, 2015 at 8:45 AM · 1. Classic Disney (can include Pixar)... Malificent Castle Ride and Dark Forest Land to include other villains, Tangled, Frozen, Jungle Book, Mary Poppins...
2. STAR WARS (avoid pre-quals like plague)
3. Surprise Me Original Ideas... Universe Explorer Ride
4. Marvel... preferably Guardians, Thor, all Avengers... less on Iron Man, Spiderman, Hulk
April 20, 2015 at 2:56 PM · I know this is next to impossible, but wouldn't it be great if they combined both into one land? (you could connect the two franchises by saying that Stark Industries made a deal with Star Tours to help them build their own spaceport here on Earth and through a GOTG ride). That combo will be enough to make young kids, teens and adults everywhere wet their pants and give Disney huge enough attendance records to make Harry Potter a thing of the past, yesterday's news! Plus, who wouldn't wanna see a back-and-forth conversation between Groot and Chewbacca?
April 21, 2015 at 9:55 AM · Marvel, while I love star wars, having a spider man ride or an iron man ride here in California would be so cool.
April 21, 2015 at 7:06 PM · Ok. I have one last thing to say for this article. I have gone back and re-read all the comments and noticed that there seems to be a common complaint...the fact that Disney's construction seems to be pretty sluggish compared to that of Universal. So I thought to myself, "should we really be criticizing Disney so much for building their rides is slowly?" After some deep thinking, I realized that we should be doing the exact opposite. Now, I still go to school. And all of my crappy work is the work that I just rush through; not caring about what content I put into it and just trying to finish it so that I can get a grade. My good work, the stuff that actually gets me good grades, is the work where I actually put real time and effort into what I'm saying. Sure, it takes me 2-3 hours to finish it, but the final product is definitely worth it.

The same thing can be applied to theme parks.

Universal usually takes a year or two to build a new ride. Let's see what the outcome is.

Harry Potter has 5 rides: Forbidden Journey, Dragon Challenge, Hippogriff, Gringotts and Hogwarts Express. Out of those rides, only 2 of them really stand out and bring something new and exciting to the table. Forbidden Journey and Hogwarts Express. Dragon Challenge is basically the same thing as Duelling Dragons but with a different name and Harry Potter Easter eggs in the queue. Same thing with Hippogriff and it's predecessor, the Unicorn ride. Gringotts, while definitely not a retread, still isn't very groundbreaking. It uses all of the same technology we've seen on other motion simulators. These problems aren't just limited to Harry Potter, either. Let us not forget Transformers, and it's biggest criticism of how it is basically Spider-Man but with a Transformers paint job over it. Now, these are all great rides, but imagine how much better they would be if Universal didn't rush to debut them and making them retreads of stuff that Universal has already done previously.

Now let's go over to Disney, who, once again, builds at an extremely slow pace. How could we have possibly benefited from that?

Well, look at their most popular rides: Thunder Mountain, Everest, Mission Space, Haunted Mansion, Pirates, Tower of Terror...all of these rides took years to build. And they all introduced something new and innovative. Even today, the lines for these rides are ridiculous! And they have repeated the process with New Fantasyland. The three new attractions there really push the boundaries of practical effects and some of them are even more realistic than any motion simulator!

So, while it is understandable why people would expect a new ride every year, that's not necessarily a good thing.We should be encouraging Disney's sluggish pace, not criticizing it! For it takes real time and effort to create a timeless experience. So before I leave this article for good, I beseech you, fellow theme park enthusiasts, what do you prefer, a great attraction that takes a year or two to build, or an outstanding attraction that will last for generations that takes years to build?

April 21, 2015 at 7:29 PM · They should really do both Marvel & Star Wars, in phases. For example, start the Marvel presence by building Marvel's New York City in Hollywood Studios (or whatever the park gets renamed to) with rides and immersive experiences like "Josie's Bar" from Daredevil's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood and Avengers Tower, etc. Of course, Disney will need to get the west coast rights back from Universal first - which I have a feeling they are closer to getting than we might think.

The first Star Wars phase should be an obvious expansion of the area near Star Tours and up toward the front of the park. E-Ticket ride with an outdoor element like Radiator Springs Racers and the Cantina Bar as well.

Note to author: You mentioned The Fantastic Four, but that film and its characters are not part of the Disney Marvel Cinematic Universe. It's owned by 20th Century Fox and unfortunately the recent trailer for the reboot looks bad - definitely not Marvel Studios quality.

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