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[Alex_Mexico]

I wonder if Universal flew any of the Nintendo higher-ups before finalizing the contract? I can picture Iwata and Miyamoto losing their shit on Spider-Man or Gringotts, lol

I'm convinced they flew someone. Not sure the friggin' japanese CEO of Nintendo. I'm not sure what's the policy over there of letting two of their most visible heads getting on rides all over Universal theme parks with the rest of us mortals.

 

[thefro]

I'm convinced they flew someone. Not sure the friggin' japanese CEO of Nintendo. I'm not sure what's the policy over there of letting two of their most visible heads getting on rides all over Universal theme parks with the rest of us mortals.

The park in Osaka is only 60 km away from their Kyoto office, so I'm sure they went to that one... they're literally under an hour away from it.

 

[Ainsz]

Honestly, how has hasn't been a thing for decades? The plethora of well known and loved characters and worlds Nintendo has, a theme park to put it all in seems too obvious.

Had Nintendo built there own huge theme park say in the nineties, it could have been as big as Disny World by now.

 

[1up]

People are really underestimating how big Kids Zone is in USF.

 

[gamergirly]

People are really underestimating how big Kids Zone is in USF.

.

 

[mantis23]

People are really underestimating how big Kids Zone is in USF.

While they could use that area for expansion its not all the pointless space many are thinking. I know that land gets used for Halloween Horror Nights, which is a huge draw for USF. Thats where they built the Micheal Myers Haloween House last year. There are a few soundstages back there as well. Most people forget that USF is also a functional studio and they shoot TV shows and films on those stages. They also store the Mardi Gras floats and other large seasonal props back there.

Thats not to say they couldnt find ways to get around that and use the space. I just want to point out that the large area back there isnt unused space. Its just rarely used as public space outside of HHN.

 

[SmithnCo]

People are really underestimating how big Kids Zone is in USF.

You could move it down and include ET too, I have a feeling it's not long for this world.

 

[rawktapus]

I know it's not their biggest franchise, but I do hope Pikmin is represented somehow. Either a tiny attraction, or just hiding little life size pikmin throughout the park.

 

[OnionPowder]

I know it's not their biggest franchise, but I do hope Pikmin is represented somehow. Either a tiny attraction, or just hiding little life size pikmin throughout the park.

Lifesize pikmin are like 1 cm tall

 

[Spaceking]

I want to go now!
This is like the best idea ever!

 

[rawktapus]

Lifesize pikmin are like 1 cm tall

Lol, okay maybe a little bigger, but not too big, so they could be like the little hidden mickeys around disney world.

 

[Berordn]

Lifesize pikmin are like 1 cm tall

Just retheme Fivel's playground as a Pikmin area.

 

[Zen_Arcade]

The best way to do a Pikmin attraction would be to make it feel like the people are the same size as Pikmin. You walk around in really tall grass and there are Bulborbs and other enemies that are much larger then you. Then make giant batteries and fruit and scatter them throughout.

 

[Gsnap]

The park needs to have hidden luigi sprites.

 

[4Tran]

Disney has enough space to open up another park if they have to.

Nintendo probably went to both Universal and Disney; with Disney as the preferred choice. Disney either wasn't interested or offered terms that were unpalatable to Nintendo. I think that it's more likely that Disney simply wasn't interested.

 

[SmithnCo]

The best way to do a Pikmin attraction would be to make it feel like the people are the same size as Pikmin. You walk around in really tall grass and there are Bulborbs and other enemies that are much larger then you. Then make giant batteries and fruit and scatter them throughout.

Reminds me of the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground at hollywood studios. That would be cool though I don't expect that much love for the second-tier franchises.

 

[Godzilla's Left Toe]

Nintendo probably went to both Universal and Disney; with Disney as the preferred choice. Disney either wasn't interested or offered terms that were unpalatable to Nintendo. I think that it's more likely that Disney simply wasn't interested.

Ok I wasn't talking about a bidding war or why Nintendo didn't go with Disney.

 

[The Argus]

Nintendo probably went to both Universal and Disney; with Disney as the preferred choice. Disney either wasn't interested or offered terms that were unpalatable to Nintendo. I think that it's more likely that Disney simply wasn't interested.

As a huge Disney Imagineering nerd this kinda saddens me, especially since I figured they had a relationship of sorts post Wreck it Ralph. As much as I love Universal parks, they still can't really match the magic and OCD like attention to detail like Dinsey does with its parks. Yes the Harry Potter worlds are really well done,but that's mainly because WB helped finance those.

Still great news, a Mario world like ToonTown at Disneyland would really work.

 

[Zalman]

Nintendo probably went to both Universal and Disney; with Disney as the preferred choice. Disney either wasn't interested or offered terms that were unpalatable to Nintendo. I think that it's more likely that Disney simply wasn't interested.

Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if this was the case. Disney don't need Nintendo as much as Universal do.

 

[mightynine]

Disney lately is about acquiring IP outright, not licensing - that whole Avatar thing in Animal Kingdom is the outlier, and was a deal made before buying Marvel and Star Wars.

Licensing Nintendo IP for theme parks isn't something I think they would be interested in and I don't think Nintendo had any plans to be bought by Disney.

Universal makes more sense because most of their stuff is built on licensed IP.

Oh, and that picture of KidZone above? Looks like whatever Nintendoland becomes, it should cover around half that space. Start with ET and work up from there, according to a poster with a good track record on a WDW fan site.

 

[The Argus]

Disney lately is about acquiring IP outright, not licensing - that whole Avatar thing in Animal Kingdom is the outlier, and was a deal made before buying Marvel and Star Wars.

Licensing Nintendo IP for theme parks isn't something I think they would be interested in and I don't think Nintendo had any plans to be bought by Disney.

Universal makes more sense because most of their stuff is built on licensed IP.

Oh, and that picture of KidZone above? Looks like whatever Nintendoland becomes, it should cover around half that space.

Good post. Most of Universal's strong rides and themes are not Universal/Comcast properties. They killed a lot of their old ones like Back to the Future, Jaws, and ET. While Disney uses their own IPs or creates their own stories for a ride or land. The exceptions are Indy and Star Wars which had rides way way before the buy out. The reason those happened in the first place was because Lucas trusted Disney and only Disney.

I kinda feel like the Avatar land is dead unless the films sequel also breaks records.

 

[mightynine]

I kinda feel like the Avatar land is dead unless the films sequel also breaks records.

There's work going on in AK right now for it.

Finally.

 

[Tregard]

So Nintendo has been looking into:

-Phone games
-Movies
-TV Shows
-Theme parks

What's left? The return of the Nintendo Cereal System?

 

[Blues1990]

Mario was originally going to be Popeye and ended up being sued by Universal over the use of Donkey Kong's name. The very same Universal that's going to build Nintendo themed attractions at their theme parks.

The world goes round, they say....

It's funny how life works out, especially in this circumstance.

 

[The Argus]

There's work going on in AK right now for it.

Finally.

Really?! No way, I gotta venture back to Micechat... It's going to be a beautiful land if they stick to Pandora, especially when the sun sets.

Sorry for the third post in a page. So be on topic I'm sure a third of the Nintendo land will be use Pikachu meet and greets and their queues. Oh and a clone of their Rockefeller store with little museum.

 

[MvmntInGrn]

F-Zero ride please.

Motion simulator featuring 3D video in the style of an F-zero race. Captain Falcon vs Black Shadow race that, after overcoming him in the race, goes off-road right before the crossing the finish line and you race through a futuristic city.

That seems like a reasonable ride at least. A 5-track rollercoaster featuring competing cars where inputs from riders increase speed to determine a winner could be cool too...

EDIT: Oh and early demo kiosks!

 

[SpacePirate Ridley]

As a huge Disney Imagineering nerd this kinda saddens me, especially since I figured they had a relationship of sorts post Wreck it Ralph. As much as I love Universal parks, they still can't really match the magic and OCD like attention to detail like Dinsey does with its parks. Yes the Harry Potter worlds are really well done,but that's mainly because WB helped finance those.

Still great news, a Mario world like ToonTown at Disneyland would really work.

If you are a huge imagineer nerd as I am, you would also know management and Marketing departments at disney have really screwed the imagineers work this past years. Not even counting the problem of them not wanting to invert that much money as universal is doing now and taking a ton of time for really small things.

I would have loved that Nintendo had worked with disney, but as more time passes it seems the better option is going to be universal at the end.

 

[border]

It's pretty difficult to make Disney sweat to be honest. Magic Kingdom alone still has more guests than both Studios and Islands combined. Nintendo won't change that.

At this point I imagine Disney is sweating not over the Magic Kingdom, but at the possibility that every other park they're running is going to languish as Universal amps up their game. Who wants to go to Epcot when the alternative has Harry Potter and Nintendo?

 

[The Argus]

If you are a huge imagineer nerd as I am, you would also know management and Marketing departments at disney have really screwed the imagineers work this past years. Not even counting the problem of them not wanting to invert that much money as universal is doing now and taking a ton of time for really small things.

I would have loved that Nintendo had worked with disney, but as more time passes it seems the better option is going to be universal at the end.

I honestly haven't followed it as much recently since I no longer live by any park. I know there is a big push on the international parks, and that there's been a good amount of time and money spent on fixing the Michael Eisner era Disneyland and World. Their DCA work is outstanding, and besides that 7 Dwarfs Mine Train ride what have they had that's really flopped? Yeah it's frustrating that there hasn't been a new E ticket in Disneyland for years and years or that once again they're underfunded, but I wouldn't lose faith. There is still talent and sometimes getting your butt kicked by a competitor can get money flowing. That or Universal does become the new themepark king.

 

[mightynine]

At this point I imagine Disney is sweating not over the Magic Kingdom, but at the possibility that every other park they're running is going to languish as Universal amps up their game. Who wants to go to Epcot when the alternative has Harry Potter and Nintendo?

Universal is still a two, three day park at most right now. People will still go to WDW to fill out a week.

Uni isn't trying to beat Disney in P&R. They just want a larger chunk of the pie.

The larger concern for Disney, IMO, is how long they can get away with raising ticket prices every year.

 

[Berordn]

At this point I imagine Disney is sweating not over the Magic Kingdom, but at the possibility that every other park they're running is going to languish as Universal amps up their game. Who wants to go to Epcot when the alternative has Harry Potter and Nintendo?

I don't think they're really sweating Epcot attendance when they've got a bunch of annual events that keep growing in popularity like Food & Wine. Hollywood Studios is jam-packed around the holidays with Frozen and the Osborne lights and Animal Kingdom's under heavy construction right now for Avatarland. Nintendo might give Universal a little bump but Disney's sitting pretty.

 

[4Tran]

At this point I imagine Disney is sweating not over the Magic Kingdom, but at the possibility that every other park they're running is going to languish as Universal amps up their game. Who wants to go to Epcot when the alternative has Harry Potter and Nintendo?

The big difference between Disney and Universal is that they see different purposes for their theme parks. Universal's theme parks are primarily designed to generate revenue, and so they will put effort into projects and changes that will bring in the visitors. Disney uses theme parks more strategically to further cement fans into their IP, and so they target children and look at outside IP that complement what they already have. Their princess/Frozen/Cars/Planes lines have been excellent at reaching children, so Universal's gains won't bother them too much. Disney's slate of new park additions is pretty full and Nintendo's products are a fairly poor fit for their own products, so they probably weren't very interested.

 

[Nakazato]

Mario kart like the Simpsons ride I'm all over that

 

[IntelliHeath]

Wrong Thread!

 

[ArcaneFreeze]

I know it's not their biggest franchise, but I do hope Pikmin is represented somehow. Either a tiny attraction, or just hiding little life size pikmin throughout the park.

Pikmin Safari

 

[Mulgrok]

I can so "No Littering" signs including a Luigi death-stare photo.

 

[SpacePirate Ridley]

I honestly haven't followed it as much recently since I no longer live by any park. I know there is a big push on the international parks, and that there's been a good amount of time and money spent on fixing the Michael Eisner era Disneyland and World. Their DCA work is outstanding, and besides that 7 Dwarfs Mine Train ride what have they had that's really flopped? Yeah it's frustrating that there hasn't been a new E ticket in Disneyland for years and years or that once again they're underfunded, but I wouldn't lose faith. There is still talent and sometimes getting your butt kicked by a competitor can get money flowing. That or Universal does become the new themepark king.

Yes, you are very right they have still talent, but then you see all this young imagineers trying to do some amazing work (buenavista street) and being smashed by the fucking marketing department that has a lot more power at disney. The week that marketing started to touch up buenavista to their liking, you could read all this tweets of frustrated imagineers and it was just sad.
I always wanted to be an imagineer, and as much as I tried it was too difficult and costly just from being from another country. 15 years ago they gave a damn about younger generations of imagineers coming from all the world (funnily even during the worst eisner years) and then just stopped. I had good hopes when lasseter was made chief of everything creative at disney, including imagineers. It all started great, but now it seems they dont give a damn or take much time doing things because they dont want to invest as much money. They have lots of interest projects all around the world, but they are just too damn slow.
Walt would be fucking pissed, thats for sure.

 

[Blues1990]

Hey, it could happen.

 

[way more]

Will they offer wedding packages like Disney?

 

[Tregard]

Peach's Castle giant fun house with giant paintings and Princess' Secret Slide

 

[Xun]

Pikmin Safari

That would be amazing if done well.

I can't wait to see what Nintendo and Universal come up with.

 

[spekkeh]

You could move it down and include ET too, I have a feeling it's not long for this world.

I've been to Universal Florida twice, in 2000 and at the end of 2013. It was pretty much unchanged. Just the Mummy (which was cool but also old) and the Simpsons (dunno there was a bullshit three hour line) were added, all the rest was tired and worn down as shit. Their new park with Harry Potter was really cool though, but the old one, they might as well bulldozer the lot for the Nintendo rides.

 

[Bentendo]

For the people who thought that Avatar Land was dead, here's construction of it (lower left):

and

 

[GoonerTRON]

Pikmin Safari

I'd rather a Pokemon Snap river ride.

 

[Tregard]

My sister had an idea for an attraction where you could have yourself scanned and 3D Printed into an amiibo, which could be used as a "mii" amiibo, as it were.

Then we decided they're definitely going to sell these:

Going to have to arrive with about $1000 in spending money, t'would appear.

 

[DarkKyo]

My sister had an idea for an attraction where you could have yourself scanned and 3D Printed into an amiibo, which could be used as a "mii" amiibo, as it were.

That would be pretty messy, dude. Have you seen how the 3DS turns your face into a Mii? It's always terrible!

 

[Tregard]

That would be pretty messy, dude. Have you seen how the 3DS turns your face into a Mii? It's always terrible!

The scan could just be a direct 3D model of yourself, uncanny as that would be :L

 

[Alex_Mexico]

Sooooooooooo....... any news about Universal building Luigi's Haunted Mansion yet (complete with vaccums in the moving car to catch ghosts)?

Sweet baby Jesus it's going to be a painfully long wait, isn't it? ;(

 

[exmachina64]

My sister had an idea for an attraction where you could have yourself scanned and 3D Printed into an amiibo, which could be used as a "mii" amiibo, as it were.

Then we decided they're definitely going to sell these:



Going to have to arrive with about $1000 in spending money, t'would appear.

It would be nice if they had something to that effect to imitate Disney's Magic Band.

Sooooooooooo....... any news about Universal building Luigi's Haunted Mansion yet (complete with vaccums in the moving car to catch ghosts)?

Sweet baby Jesus it's going to be a painfully long wait, isn't it? ;(

Try to keep your expectations in check, the rides we imagine on GAF and such will far exceed the reality.

 

[Jintor]

where's my splatoon water park