Marvel Park in the Future?
Posted: Jun Tue 26, 2012 1:42 pm
DatelineDisneyland had posted a link from Al Lutz discussing DCA and the possibility of a Marvel park in the future. Any thoughts on that?
One other stop on the recent Iger and Staggs tours was the sprawling Toy Story Parking Lot down near the Anaheim Convention Center, and the adjacent land Disney owns but has not yet developed. Bob Iger has made public comments about his desire to get the Marvel characters “into the parks”, but the restrictive legal agreement with Universal over the Marvel characters means the Florida parks are off the table for Marvel. But Anaheim is definitely in play, and Bob is convinced the Marvel franchise is too big for just a single ride or even a small land in an existing park.
It’s no coincidence then that WDI has mocked up a detailed model of an entirely new theme park based solely on Marvel characters and stories, featuring mainly thrill rides and energetic shows aimed at teens and adults. And WDI, always looking for their next big gig, conveniently used the roughly 100 acres available to Disney on and around the Toy Story Parking Lot as their exact footprint for this new park model. The Marvel park could also be slotted in as a second park at either the Hong Kong or Shanghai resorts sometime in the next decade (or later), but the third park expansion land in Anaheim is the location where this concept would likely first appear.
Before anyone gets excited though, there are several things that must come before the Marvel park gets the green light. The first is at least a year or two of solid performance at DCA, with financial numbers that prove the park is now drawing new customers all on its own, instead of just acting as a temporary safety valve when Disneyland gets too crowded.
The second thing that must happen is that Disney and the city of Anaheim have to come up with a comprehensive parking and transportation plan to get people into and out of the Resort District more smoothly. TDA has been able to barely keep their head above water most days when it comes to parking. But the current system is stretched to its limit and made up of stopgap measures, fancy footwork by the operations teams who often squeeze 25,000 or more cars per day into 18,000 spaces, and fraying goodwill with the city of Anaheim.
With Cast Members now parking miles away at the Honda Center on days with high Annual Passholder attendance, an improved and expanded parking plan is a must before new attractions open at Disneyland, much less before a Marvel park takes over the 3,500 spaces at the Toy Story Parking Lot.
The last thing that needs to slot into place before the third park gets underway is an expansion of Disney owned hotel rooms in Anaheim, with more DVC units attached to any new development. We’ve told you in the past about the solid proposals to build a new hotel and arrival complex in the East Esplanade shuttle bus loading area, as well as a fourth DVC tower at the Disneyland Hotel slotted for the vacant land just west of the ESPNZone. But again, TDA and Burbank will be looking at the numbers coming out of DCA through the rest of this year before either of those plans gets the green light.
The lingering sour economy doesn’t help any of these projects of course, but it is impressive that they have been allowed to wait at the starting gate while DCA’s fortunes rapidly improve, as they could have easily been mothballed entirely during the recession.
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2uJdVx/mi ... 62612a.htm
One other stop on the recent Iger and Staggs tours was the sprawling Toy Story Parking Lot down near the Anaheim Convention Center, and the adjacent land Disney owns but has not yet developed. Bob Iger has made public comments about his desire to get the Marvel characters “into the parks”, but the restrictive legal agreement with Universal over the Marvel characters means the Florida parks are off the table for Marvel. But Anaheim is definitely in play, and Bob is convinced the Marvel franchise is too big for just a single ride or even a small land in an existing park.
It’s no coincidence then that WDI has mocked up a detailed model of an entirely new theme park based solely on Marvel characters and stories, featuring mainly thrill rides and energetic shows aimed at teens and adults. And WDI, always looking for their next big gig, conveniently used the roughly 100 acres available to Disney on and around the Toy Story Parking Lot as their exact footprint for this new park model. The Marvel park could also be slotted in as a second park at either the Hong Kong or Shanghai resorts sometime in the next decade (or later), but the third park expansion land in Anaheim is the location where this concept would likely first appear.
Before anyone gets excited though, there are several things that must come before the Marvel park gets the green light. The first is at least a year or two of solid performance at DCA, with financial numbers that prove the park is now drawing new customers all on its own, instead of just acting as a temporary safety valve when Disneyland gets too crowded.
The second thing that must happen is that Disney and the city of Anaheim have to come up with a comprehensive parking and transportation plan to get people into and out of the Resort District more smoothly. TDA has been able to barely keep their head above water most days when it comes to parking. But the current system is stretched to its limit and made up of stopgap measures, fancy footwork by the operations teams who often squeeze 25,000 or more cars per day into 18,000 spaces, and fraying goodwill with the city of Anaheim.
With Cast Members now parking miles away at the Honda Center on days with high Annual Passholder attendance, an improved and expanded parking plan is a must before new attractions open at Disneyland, much less before a Marvel park takes over the 3,500 spaces at the Toy Story Parking Lot.
The last thing that needs to slot into place before the third park gets underway is an expansion of Disney owned hotel rooms in Anaheim, with more DVC units attached to any new development. We’ve told you in the past about the solid proposals to build a new hotel and arrival complex in the East Esplanade shuttle bus loading area, as well as a fourth DVC tower at the Disneyland Hotel slotted for the vacant land just west of the ESPNZone. But again, TDA and Burbank will be looking at the numbers coming out of DCA through the rest of this year before either of those plans gets the green light.
The lingering sour economy doesn’t help any of these projects of course, but it is impressive that they have been allowed to wait at the starting gate while DCA’s fortunes rapidly improve, as they could have easily been mothballed entirely during the recession.
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2uJdVx/mi ... 62612a.htm