Another Step in the Disney's quest for media domination

[KCattheStripe]

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.

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

[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.

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

Oh, you are right.  My bad.

[Cman]

Disney owns Miramax.  That didn't stop Miramax from putting out Kill Bill.

I think most consumers won't make the link between Marvel and Disney, just like they don't make the link between Miramax and Disney.  The question then becomes: why did Disney purchase Marvel at all?  ie: what can be gained?  The stock market seems to think not much can be gained (Disney is down 3% so far today).

Marvel owns its own Movie company that has been wildly successful over the past dozen or so years. Also, Warner Brothers owns DC and has been able to turn a tidy profit from the merchandising rights.

Disney's movie company has been wildly successful as well -- so perhaps one benefit to Disney is that they are removing some of the competition. 

As for the merchandising rights, you figure that whatever gain Disney gets from this is priced into what they have to pay to acquire Marvel.

Regarding the rides at themeparks, if Disney forces other theme parks to stop the Marvel rides, that means it is going to forego the licensing fees that it would have earned.  Sure Disney could build its own Marvel rides, but will it earn more from those rides than it would if it had kept the original licensing deals in place?

I am still not sure what Disney gets out of this deal that makes it worthwhile for them (other than removing some competition).

[KCattheStripe]

Disney owns Miramax.  That didn't stop Miramax from putting out Kill Bill.

I think most consumers won't make the link between Marvel and Disney, just like they don't make the link between Miramax and Disney.  The question then becomes: why did Disney purchase Marvel at all?  ie: what can be gained?  The stock market seems to think not much can be gained (Disney is down 3% so far today).

Marvel owns its own Movie company that has been wildly successful over the past dozen or so years. Also, Warner Brothers owns DC and has been able to turn a tidy profit from the merchandising rights.

Disney's movie company has been wildly successful as well -- so perhaps one benefit to Disney is that they are removing some of the competition. 

As for the merchandising rights, you figure that whatever gain Disney gets from this is priced into what they have to pay to acquire Marvel.

It makes them a better brand, they didn't have to buy Pixar either, but it made their movie studio stable stronger. Also, it gives them another gun in the market battle against Time Warner.

[Cman]

It makes them a better brand, they didn't have to buy Pixar either, but it made their movie studio stable stronger. Also, it gives them another gun in the market battle against Time Warner.

Good point RE: Pixar.  It seems to be working out for Disney.  That doesn't mean that it will work out with Marvel, though.  There is a lot of research suggesting that acquisitions rarely pay off for the acquiring firm.

[KCattheStripe]

It makes them a better brand, they didn't have to buy Pixar either, but it made their movie studio stable stronger. Also, it gives them another gun in the market battle against Time Warner.

Good point RE: Pixar.  It seems to be working out for Disney.  That doesn't mean that it will work out with Marvel, though.  There is a lot of research suggesting that acquisitions rarely pay off for the acquiring firm.

I'm less worried about it not working for Disney, although I think they're taking a very sensible gamble, than I am it working out well for Marvel. But I'm not terribly worried about how it will effect Marvel.

[RebusRankin]

In related news, I'm contemplating selling the name Rebus Rankin to Disney for their use on this and other blogs and forums.

[KCattheStripe]

In related news, I'm contemplating selling the name Rebus Rankin to Disney for their use on this and other blogs and forums.

You're a Edited.  Profanity and masked profanity are against forum rules and may result in discipline. Rebus.

[RebusRankin]

In related news, I'm contemplating selling the name Rebus Rankin to Disney for their use on this and other blogs and forums.

You're a Edited.  Profanity and masked profanity are against forum rules and may result in discipline. Rebus.

I am currently thinking of renaming myself Starbucks/Disney/ESPN/McDonalds.

[Fafnir]

This is all about the movies. I hope the comics aren't effected.

Whether the rides continue depends on the contracts that Marvel had previously signed and whether or no they had the right to terminate the deal. I bet there is such a clause but it likely will cost Disney a lot of money in the short term.

[fairweatherfan]

Disney'll probably keep the movies under the Marvel house name.  Remember they own Miramax and Touchstone among others, so they aren't afraid to release darker content, just not under their own house name.

On the plus side, a Pixar/Marvel movie could be amazing.  An Avengers or Fantastic 4 story would work well.  I've been wondering how they planned to pull off the Avengers movie with all the big names they've got playing the heroes anyway. 

[jambr380]

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.

[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.

Universal must have some sort of contract with Marvel for a certain period of time.  Once the contract runs out I'm sure Disney will try to get Marvel rides at Disney World.  But until then they'll have to honro any contract Marvel signed before the takeover.

I wouldn't mind seeing some hero themed rides at Disney World.  Maybe even a whole Marvel theme park.  Now if they could just buy DC too it could get real interesting.

[fairweatherfan]

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

[KCattheStripe]

In related news, I'm contemplating selling the name Rebus Rankin to Disney for their use on this and other blogs and forums.

You're a Edited.  Profanity and masked profanity are against forum rules and may result in discipline. Rebus.

I am currently thinking of renaming myself Starbucks/Disney/ESPN/McDonalds.

Whatever man, Later on the mengy.