Nintendo Coming to Universal Parks

[Mike S]

No chance that goes to KZ. If it goes anywhere other than FFL, they're morons.

I thought the question was something big at USF in general to replace Mario, not specifically KidZone.

 

[Andysol]

SLoP

The SLoP days are likely over. #MeToo

 

[Alicia]

The SLoP days are likely over. #MeToo

The sequel has been re-cast. I don't expect the franchise to go away that easy.

 

[belloq87]

Many are saying Ministry of Magic. A magical government building. Yay :_:

There's been talk of MOM independent of Nintendo's plans for a while, though. I wouldn't consider that (or Shrek's supposed replacement) a trade-off for not getting SNW.

The SLoP days are likely over. #MeToo

Does Universal really think the whole SLOP brand is tarnished? It's easy to replace a voice actor. Is the sequel still in production, or has it been pulled?

 

[zg44]

Absolutely. In fact, we have their leaked pitch that used KidZone as the pitch. I don't deny this.


Absolutely. I don't deny this either. The plan on the initial signing was almost assuredly KZ based on the leaked pitch work.


Also- I agree- Mario to KZ written in stone until the land purchases- or at the very least before they were moving towards a land purchase. No disagreement.

And please note- I'm not saying you're wrong. But an alternative theory is:
Universal developed the current plans of DK, Yoshi and MK to KZ based as a contingency if they couldn't secure the land.

-Uni approaches Nintendo- said we are planning on putting Mario, Kirby, Bullet Bill, Donkey Kong and Zelda in KidZone- or something comparable. Nintendo signs off and they start R&D,

-Uni started moving towards the land project and saw potential.

-Uni developed the current iteration of MK/Yoshi/DK and said we want to put this in USJ, USH and Park Three if we can close this land deal by XYZ date- but if we can't we'll develop it for KidZone. As they noticed Stan was digging it, they moved forward with the KidZone option. Then they got news and information where they pulled the plug late 2017 and knew they were working towards a resolution.

Again, what you said could easily be the answer- but what I'm saying also could have been.
No one on this forum knows. But we'll know sometime in the next decade.

Edited for formatting

Yeah, I think the main thing is that now that all the land questions are sorted (the master declarant rights and main resort territory is all consolidated), we'll finally start to get answers.

The "expansion question" had hung over everything, but now it's full throttle.

 

[Mad Dog]

I'm thinking more along the lines of a perfect storm....
* Land acquisitions may have come quicker & cheaper than anticipated due to Stan Thomas's various bankruptcies & financial difficulties.
*D23 signaled to Comcast that Disney was moving into a higher gear than was anticipated. Instead of taking a measured approach in Orlando, Comcast/Universal needed to up their game so their long term game plan still worked against a WDW resort that was accelerating the contest. Kind of an arms race situation to maintain momentum.
* Comcast Executives looking at Universal plans and saying this isn't big enough (referring to all plans, not just SNL), the vision is lacking. Move everything up a few notches and re evaluate everything in relation to time tables and placement.
* And the non theme park competition between Comcast & Disney, especially relating to acquisitions and their other core businesses extended to theme park strategy. ...
.........Just my personal take on this entire scenario. I think it's a little more complicated and involved than we're giving it credit for.

 

[jrn14]

That's where all the Pokeman talk was going on about. Personally, I doubt that particular one, but *something* will happen to Kidzone later this year.

something or maybe, NOTHING!

 

[JungleSkip]

Yea if Nintendo isn’t going to KidZone I wouldn’t expect it to close any time soon. I would think something like MoM will ET the go ahead while w new plan for KZ is formulated

 

[Scott W.]

Don't think that's the case. Firms were being hired to begin construction in KidZone. It goes beyond just a backup plan. They were extremely close to pulling the trigger when they suddenly changed course.

I get the impression that the new park was the back up but preferred plan.

The past 9 months have had a ridiculous amount of progress and future planning.

Universal had always planned to use that land for the new park, way back in the early 2000s and big ideas like that don't ever go away which could explain why progress on the new park has been made at a crazy pace.

 

[teddy b]

The timescale is disappointing but I feel SNW is better in the 3rd park

 

[Alicia]

The timescale is disappointing but I feel SNW is better in the 3rd park

Welcome to the IU forums, Teddy! :toast:

 

[teddy b]

Thanks Alicia :thumbsup:

 

[Scott W.]

The timescale is disappointing but I feel SNW is better in the 3rd park

Welcome! :toast:

It's great to see so many new members recently. It's clear to see that Universal's ambition is drawing a large crowd.

I'd be interested to see what everybody else thinks about what would be better with SNW in a poll. Kidzone or new park.

 

[Magic-Man]

Welcome! :toast:

It's great to see so many new members recently. It's clear to see that Universal's ambition is drawing a large crowd.

I'd be interested to see what everybody else thinks about what would be better with SNW in a poll. Kidzone or new park.

ON IT

 

[Mad Dog]

The timescale is disappointing but I feel SNW is better in the 3rd park

Welcome to the Forums. :thumbsup::toast:....A very wise first post.

 

[belloq87]

Yea if Nintendo isn’t going to KidZone I wouldn’t expect it to close any time soon. I would think something like MoM will ET the go ahead while w new plan for KZ is formulated

My hunch is you are correct.

The scenario does not make me enthused, however.

 

[Frank Drackman]

While they're planning the 3rd park, if they need to use land that was originally going to be used for a play area, it can be swapped out for something because it's not something that HAS to be there now

Thinking of the days of visiting a theme park with a child that was not tall enough for most rides...hanging in Kid Zone while the wife road HRRR...pretty boring time for me.

Nintendo wants to make an impression on kids of all ages and they have a lot of say...but for UNI it’s a win as well, I bet a parent would find a way to enjoy a Nintendo area while watching a family member that can’t ride...the reason we may see more small kids things as opposed to just one area for the whole park.

I'm talking about spreading the 3 rides out, adding more, and more restaurants, shops and entertainment. I just don't see the plans for existing 3 rides changing, only being spread out more to make room for more stuff.

For some reason I was under the impression that it was Nintendo that wanted three levels in a sort of box for the main area which would make me think that the rides shared by the different resorts (Japan/Hollywood) would all be housed in the plans folks have seen...

So to me, anything stretched out would be more the surroundings than the main ‘block’.

 

[Alicia]

For some reason I was under the impression that it was Nintendo that wanted three levels in a sort of box for the main area which would make me think that the rides shared by the different resorts (Japan/Hollywood) would all be housed in the plans folks have seen...

So to me, anything stretched out would be more the surroundings than the main ‘block’.

There are only 2 levels in the land, and only in the center courtyard area.

Mario Kart is a box set in the back-left of the land. Yoshi only travels over the gift shop on the right and a breezway. And Donkey Kong at the top right is not connected in any real way to the rest of the area. So the 3 rides can be separated further apart with more themed shops/attractions/etc placed between them to fill space.

The castle, restaurant, and main play areas are the stacked parts, all located on the left and front of the area, like a big L shape. They could also be expanded, or just moved further to the left, making the courtyard larger. Something new would need to be placed between the rides to fill out the land if they did that.

And I imagine that's how it would play out.

EDIT: Made some image examples to show how the land could grow without changing the plans for the rides themselves... just an example though. In it the castle and play areas and restaurant got bigger just cause, why not? Plus, enough space for a new big ride or several smaller rides is created.

Kinda how the plans are now (not to scale, I'm in a hurry):


Here's a possible way to expand the land, without changing the rides, but add space for an entire new E-Ticket.


And here's another alternative, where new smaller rides, shows, or attractions can be added, (maybe even save a plot as expansion space for later if not enough time before park opens.)

 

[DK745]

I'm thinking more along the lines of a perfect storm....
* Land acquisitions may have come quicker & cheaper than anticipated due to Stan Thomas's various bankruptcies & financial difficulties.
*D23 signaled to Comcast that Disney was moving into a higher gear than was anticipated. Instead of taking a measured approach in Orlando, Comcast/Universal needed to up their game so their long term game plan still worked against a WDW resort that was accelerating the contest. Kind of an arms race situation to maintain momentum.
* Comcast Executives looking at Universal plans and saying this isn't big enough (referring to all plans, not just SNL), the vision is lacking. Move everything up a few notches and re evaluate everything in relation to time tables and placement.
* And the non theme park competition between Comcast & Disney, especially relating to acquisitions and their other core businesses extended to theme park strategy. ...
.........Just my personal take on this entire scenario. I think it's a little more complicated and involved than we're giving it credit for.

Now that sounds like a good story. I don't know how much of it is true but I'd believe all of it.

 

[Nick]

Yep. Just like they had to hurry up & do new auditions for the Barney costume characters in October/November since they had lost cast when they previously told them it was closing.

Um... those auditions were for the Barney Holiday Show, not because of lost cast.