King Kong Speculation Thread

[UNIrd]

Dude...you're kidding yourself if you believe this.

Transformers, Springfield, Minion Mayhem, Potter. All HUGE revenue generators. I'm not saying Kong isn't coming, but it doesn't fit in with the recent mold.

Eh, you're looking at it AFTER they were all huge successes. I didn't notice Simpsons merchandise flying off the shelves since 2008 warranting an expansion. Transformers has a gift shop, yes. What attraction doesn't?

Even Disney is building a ride right now based on an 80-year-old film. And Avatar toys were in the clearance section while the film was still in theaters. The point is not every decision for attractions in the parks are going to be made in the marketing and merchandising board rooms. They can actually still be made, shockingly, in Creative.

 

[TylerDurden]

That's actually not really true. It's opening weekend underperformed, but overall it ended up doing about what was expected of it, and had huge returns in the home market and syndication.

Yes it is, considering it was the most expensive film ever made at the time. Granted, Universal set the bar extremely high so it was tough to meet expectations. But it did have an underwhelming theatrical run...check out the numbers it did compared to its budget including marketing and studio hopes.

Youre right about its success in the home video market, though. Still, is the property worth buttloads of money and valuable real estate at IOA?

 

[JungleSkip]

Still, is the property worth buttloads of money and valuable real estate at IOA?

Why not? I don't care as long as the ride is good.

 

[Cupcakes]

Transformers, Springfield, Minion Mayhem, Potter. All HUGE revenue generators. I'm not saying Kong isn't coming, but it doesn't fit in with the recent mold.

Technically, it should be noted that Transformers has been dwindling in merch sales as of late. The Dark of the Moon toys did mediocre at best, and from what I've heard the sales at USF for TF have performed slightly below expectations as well.

 

[TylerDurden]

Why not? I don't care as long as the ride is good.

Neither do I...it sounds awesome! Im not sure that Universal would see the value in it though, which is why Im excited for the idea, but not necessarily hopeful.

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Technically, it should be noted that Transformers has been dwindling in merch sales as of late. The Dark of the Moon toys did mediocre at best, and from what I've heard the sales at USF for TF have performed slightly below expectations as well.

This is true, I mentioned this a few times earlier in the summer...people dont want to believe it though

 

[jtsalien]

Dude...you're kidding yourself if you believe this.

Transformers, Springfield, Minion Mayhem, Potter. All HUGE revenue generators. I'm not saying Kong isn't coming, but it doesn't fit in with the recent mold.

Exactly. People are missing the point here and mostly are just being offended because they thinks it reflects on the quality of the ride. I haven't seen anyone here question that this will be awesome. It's just off the mark with everything we've seen and heard up to this point, and it's totally worth noting. A Diaster retrofit of Kong fit the mold of a quick and dirty upgrade to an existing under-performing area. Pouring a massive amount of money into what, whether it's beloved by fans or not, is a relatively dead IP does not.

 

[Macfr3ak]

it's a bit different. King Kong is a Universal property that Universal has complete control over. They can easily come out with a revamp of the series or even come out with a new movie that ties JP and KK even further than just a mention in the films with a crossover. I think this has A LOT of potential and i think there is a good reason why Universal is planning it out. Lets not forget the partnership of Legendary Films and Universal maybe this land is laying out the groundwork for the future. W.e it is Universal has made very few mistakes as of late and i don't think their ready to start now. Most definitely not with King Kong a ride that many die hard fans scorched universal over removing it. its not just a ride we're talking about its a new land with new interactions and immersion that with all honesty Universal has done an incredible job with i think this is very positive and will see very high revenue in terms of sales of both attendance and merchandise.

 

[Hatetofly]

I'm at work but later I want to clarify a few things people have either missed, ignored, or I was way to broad for it to sink in. The way parkscope portrayed the "rumor" was comical and I loved it but several aspects were elaborated on incorrectly. Most of it is probably my fault for having to juggle a 9 week old while reviewing visuals, reading emails, texting, and writing the actual post. It actually took me over 4 hours to write that post because of taking care of the little one on my day off.

So while my intent was to be cryptic yet clear it came across dry and in some cases to cryptic and inconsistent. My apologies for creating chaos and confusion.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

I'm at work but later I want to clarify a few things people have either missed, ignored, or I was way to broad for it to sink in. The way parkscope portrayed the "rumor" was comical and I loved it but several aspects were elaborated on incorrectly. Most of it is probably my fault for having to juggle a 9 week old while reviewing visuals, reading emails, texting, and writing the actual post. It actually took me over 4 hours to write that post because of taking care of the little one on my day off.

So while my intent was to be cryptic yet clear it came across dry and in some cases to cryptic and inconsistent. My apologies for creating chaos and confusion.

HTF, thanks for the clarification. Us on the podcast love the work you do and know you don't mean portray something in the wrong way. We understand your busy schedule, making time for 'us' at OU, and the hecticness of having a newborn.

I hope you and the other listeners did not walk away at us trying to turn your rumor into something comical, but instead us trying to figure out what you mean, what could happen, what's fantastical, and combine this with our opinions.

Parkscope Joe

 

[Frank Drackman]

I think it would be tough to pull off safely, but for some reason, while reading what HTF wrote, my mind saw a Kula arm looking like Kong's and reaching down and taking our guide away.

 

[JungleSkip]

HTF, thanks for the clarification. Us on the podcast love the work you do and know you don't mean portray something in the wrong way. We understand your busy schedule, making time for 'us' at OU, and the hecticness of having a newborn.

I hope you and the other listeners did not walk away at us trying to turn your rumor into something comical, but instead us trying to figure out what you mean, what could happen, what's fantastical, and combine this with our opinions.

This. Plus, we're usually fairly drunk.

 

[ChrisFL]

Universal's always been a different beast. The creative comes first. They've just been lucky enough to hit it big recently with the merchandising opportunities of Wizarding World and the Minions, and now the additional revenue via expanding Springfield.

But they're not suddenly Disney. Their line-up of projects isn't dictated by the sales of your local Disney Store or Toys 'R Us. They can still create experiences based on what's good for the park and it's guests. And Kong is not an obvious cash cow but they can't all be. If they figure out more ways to capitalize on it, more power to them.

Agreed, and I think the best example of this is actually "Disaster".

Imagine if Disney owned the original Earthquake attraction...and it was 20+ years old. Do you REALLY believe they'd do a "Disaster" upgrade on it, with practically no merchandise or advertising potential outside of who's already in the park? Of course not, they'd either let it slowly rot for decades, or try to make some big merchandising opportunity with it.

 

[TylerDurden]

Agreed, and I think the best example of this is actually "Disaster".

Imagine if Disney owned the original Earthquake attraction...and it was 20+ years old. Do you REALLY believe they'd do a "Disaster" upgrade on it, with practically no merchandise or advertising potential outside of who's already in the park? Of course not, they'd either let it slowly rot for decades, or try to make some big merchandising opportunity with it.

This is true, but barely anything was changed in the shift from Earthquake to Disaster. Yes, they spent some money on Fusion and getting some surprisingly famous actors to fix the pre-show, but the bulk of the attraction remained the same. It wasn't a 500 million dollar investment, it was a quick fix to increase ridership for a ride that they weren't in financial shape to completely replace with something relevant.

 

[WolfmanJ]

I think it would be tough to pull off safely, but for some reason, while reading what HTF wrote, my mind saw a Kula arm looking like Kong's and reaching down and taking our guide away.

I actually though that was what t was going to be. It would be a heck of a cool effect, if pulled off right.

 

[UNIrd]

For the record, USH's attendance shot up 26% for the year once Kong 360 debuted. If they do decide to move forward with this, I'm sure they'd be happy with half that number for either IOA or USF.

 

[TylerDurden]

For the record, USH's attendance shot up 26% for the year once Kong 360 debuted. If they do decide to move forward with this, I'm sure they'd be happy with half that number for either IOA or USF.

This has been stated before, but USH largely caters to a local market, whereas Orlando theme parks are tourism-dominant. AP's who were bored of the Tram Tour and missed the original Kong exhibit came to see the attraction. People who were bored with Knott's or wary of DL's hike in AP prices used Kong as a deciding factor to make trips to USH as an alternative. I personally would be very surprised if Kong pulled in the tourists that USF caters to. Also, 25% increase at USH is very different from a 25% increase at IOA.

Nobody's doubting that it would be an amazingly cool ride, and if done right, could be the coolest theme park attraction of all time. But there are other stronger/more stable franchises that I think Universal would be more likely to go with than Kong when making an attraction of this scale.

 

[DufflesMcGee]

This has been stated before, but USH largely caters to a local market, whereas Orlando theme parks are tourism-dominant. AP's who were bored of the Tram Tour and missed the original Kong exhibit came to see the attraction. People who were bored with Knott's or wary of DL's hike in AP prices used Kong as a deciding factor to make trips to USH as an alternative. I personally would be very surprised if Kong pulled in the tourists that USF caters to. Also, 25% increase at USH is very different from a 25% increase at IOA.

Nobody's doubting that it would be an amazingly cool ride, and if done right, could be the coolest theme park attraction of all time. But there are other stronger/more stable franchises that I think Universal would be more likely to go with than Kong when making an attraction of this scale.

The Ape that gave universal a fighting chance back in the 90's... they are definitely going to make something big as a tribute for Kong....

Another thing I dont understand why people havent spoken about yet. Kong was a peter Jackson movie, You know the same guy who did LOTR. Im sure that with the combination of the success of HP and JKR going to the tolkien family to show them the check she got from the attractions... the money coming into comcast, the money for WB and also the success that kong will have will help persuade SCZ company to finally allow Universal Creative to make a crazy cool land in TL.

 

[Hatetofly]

Ok so a little clarification before something else happens...

Budget: People took my clue of the budget exceeding the FJ as the budget exceeds the ENTIRE Wizarding World. Totally incorrect, my statement was meant strictly as a guideline for this attraction having a budget in excess of $100 Million, and I will say it does exceed that number by a fair chunk of change. No where near close to 200 Million though as some may have taken it.

Indiana Jones meets Great Movie Ride meets Jurassic Park: This one was all over the board but I thought I made it somewhat clear, obviously I did not. When I said this it has to do with several aspects of the ride and I will give examples of all. For Indiana Jones think the temple queue, EMV vehicle, and and crazy special effects interior of the large show building. The "rumored" Kong ride will have an underground themed temple queue, a enhanced motion vehicle, and interior caverns. From the Great Movie Ride take the large RV's that are guided by an actual person. And then finally from JP take the outdoor section with AA's into a transition from outdoor to indoor dark ride. Something that came up is crazy motion with a ride op stationed on the actual RV. The motion level won't be as intense as Indiana but also their is a solution for the ride op to not feel like a rag doll for 45 mins straight. These RV's are also connected in tandem just like the Gringotts RV's but they are going to be the largest RV's currently on property in terms of weight, size, and capacity.

Kuka: Then you have the AA that utilizes Kuka tech to "attack" the rider. I mean not sure what else I can say to clarify that but I will say this. In Gringotts your going to see an entirely new way to utilize Kuka Arms, and its gonna be bad ****ing ass!!

MIA: Finally you have the rider abduction. Yes its happening, but I never said where, when, or how. I will say this though, their will be NO contact of any effect, harness, or mechanics coming into contact with the RV nor the actor. I will also go as far as saying when it happens, its going to catch you completely off guard...

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For the record, USH's attendance shot up 26% for the year once Kong 360 debuted. If they do decide to move forward with this, I'm sure they'd be happy with half that number for either IOA or USF.

Transformers impact on Hollywoods numbers was another deciding factor for here in Orlando. I mean sure it didn't hurt that the R&D was already done and they needed a capital investment to get a tax break but its all about the numbers.

 

[TylerDurden]

so off the bat it will cost more than FJ...but will continuously have to employ live actors, maintain unprecedented animatronics, and keep up with the largest and most advanced vehicles on property? They'd be creating a money pit.

It sounds cool, albeit expensive. It just seems a little too good to be true. They demolished another classic (with arguably more merchandise appeal) to make room for a proven IP and to cut down on huge operational costs just a couple of years ago. Why, I wonder, are they repeating that model?

 

[Brian G.]

Well hiring an actor is a lot cheaper than hiring an actor & burning through diesel.