Epic Universe Expansion Speculation

[Mad Dog]

Three new E ticket attractions with good capacity...and Epic would feel complete.

 

[Mike S]

If Nintendo is expanded - I'm curious what it could be. A mini land, just an attraction?

Zelda in the expansion spot as a new portal seems to be what everyone thinks will happen.

 

[Casper Gutman]

Zelda in the expansion spot as a new portal seems to be what everyone thinks will happen.

Man, I wish the “Luigi in EU, Zelda in IoA, Pokémon in Studios” plan had gone ahead. I was skeptical of Zelda Island, but it’s a better idea then Pokémon, which is a perfect fit for the Simpsons space.

 

[Mike S]

Man, I wish the “Luigi in EU, Zelda in IoA, Pokémon in Studios” plan had gone ahead. I was skeptical of Zelda Island, but it’s a better idea then Pokémon, which is a perfect fit for the Simpsons space.

You and me both brother.

 

[OrlLover]

Three new E ticket attractions with good capacity...and Epic would feel complete.

Potter, Nintendo and now Dark Universe all seem to active projects in development. Which makes sense since they are the lands that need it the most.

Berk is good on capacity in my opinion.

Zelda in the expansion spot as a new portal seems to be what everyone thinks will happen.

Give it some breathing room at EU and let them truly start from scratch versus having to yearn down everything and fit it into IOA.

I was always against going into that park and I’m okay Pokémon replacing it. Hopefully the Simpsons has some more creative plans floating around.

 

[RFRees]

 

[OrlLover]

Just because I’m curious and bored I wanted to discuss the potential Nintendo expansion.

I wonder what factors went into the decision of LC not being selected for Zelda.

Why did Pokemon move there instead being the Simpsons replacement?

Could they split the land into two with Luigi’s Mansion in one corner and the rest dedicated to Zelda?

This is all speculation of course and not confirmed by anyone.

 

[TheUniC6]

Just because I’m curious and bored I wanted to discuss the potential Nintendo expansion.

I wonder what factors went into the decision of LC not being selected for Zelda.

Why did Pokemon move there instead being the Simpsons replacement?

Could they split the land into two with Luigi’s Mansion in one corner and the rest dedicated to Zelda?

This is all speculation of course and not confirmed by anyone.

Pokemon being moved to IOA was more than likely due to LC being a far bigger plot than Springfield. Considering how massive Pokemon is as a franchise, they probably wanted something grander than the acreage Springfield could provide.

Luigi's Mansion seems dead to me if the SNW expansion plot goes for Zelda.

 

[Tobias]

Just because I’m curious and bored I wanted to discuss the potential Nintendo expansion.

I wonder what factors went into the decision of LC not being selected for Zelda.

Why did Pokemon move there instead being the Simpsons replacement?

Could they split the land into two with Luigi’s Mansion in one corner and the rest dedicated to Zelda?

This is all speculation of course and not confirmed by anyone.

As Universal Orlando's history has shown, things can certainly change in one way or another.

Jurassic Park River Adventure was originally planned for the Studios, that changed with IOA coming to town.

Super Nintendo World was so close to replacing KidZone with markers planted and construction walls getting ready...but then Universal got that land back to make Epic Universe.

Now for Zelda and Pokemon, I may not know the factors on why things got shuffled around. But as been mentioned before, Simpsons has been a bit of a question mark regarding the contract. If it's true they can't do anything about the land for a good couple of years, it makes sense they'd change plans so they can work on Pokemon sooner. With all the projects going on, it feels like Universal isn't slowing down and they don't wanna' wait. (Which is fantastic for theme park fans especially with Disney's various projects going on.)

And I feel a nice advantage to Pokemon is its flexibility on where you can put it. This is a series which has been in cities, towns and various different biomes. I wouldn't be surprised if it was in the Studios, we'd have a city location. But they can go for a different biome etc. for something in IOA.

Zelda on the other hand, not as flexible as it's more rooted in plains, forests, temples, castles etc. While it could fit in IOA, I'm not so sure about the studios which is more urban city locations. Meanwhile Epic Universe has various expansion plots and Zelda can fit just fine in there.

 

[JonsMovies]

All that, but also the Link stainglass window in the SNW store. It foretold the future as prophesized!

 

[ZachPL]

A few things pointing to Zelda, for me seeing zelda director aonuma with miyamoto when they were building epic and then them removing that footage. Like I don't know why else he would be there unless there was some plans for zelda at some point.

 

[RFRees]

I think Zelda will work great at Epic. Pokemon at LC will also be a huge hit, though I'm not convinced IOA needed the next biggest thing.

Luigi's Mansion could always go to USF (I saw that first from @tommyhawkins here).

Unrelated, USF has a ton of space around Springfield, if they're willing to include some backstage areas and Animal Actors in the mix.

 

[Andysol]

Luigi's Mansion seems dead to me if the SNW expansion plot goes for Zelda.

Luigi's Mansion was always just fan-fiction and never made sense from a marketing perspective.

Luigi's offers absolutely nothing in terms of merchandise or advertisement more than they are currently getting in SNW.
A completely unrelated Nintendo IP was always the vastly more intelligent move in a park with limited space.

 

[mccgavin]

Luigi's Mansion was always just fan-fiction and never made sense from a marketing perspective.

Luigi's offers absolutely nothing in terms of merchandise or advertisement more than they are currently getting in SNW.
A completely unrelated Nintendo IP was always the vastly more intelligent move in a park with limited space.

Eh, I don't really agree with this. Luigi's Mansion is still one of Nintendo's largest IPs in its own right. There's also the argument to be made that it makes sense to expand Mario and Mario-adjacent offerings at the resort, given how popular of an IP it (especially compared to broader Nintendo as a whole). They might be stuck putting Zelda in that spot now that it has been allegedly been moved out of LC, but if that wasn't a factor, building off of Mario would've been a strong play.

 

[Mike S]

Luigi's Mansion was always just fan-fiction and never made sense from a marketing perspective.

Luigi's offers absolutely nothing in terms of merchandise or advertisement more than they are currently getting in SNW.
A completely unrelated Nintendo IP was always the vastly more intelligent move in a park with limited space.

Luigi’s Mansion 3 alone outsold both of the Donkey Kong games that area is based on combined.

 

[Jake S]

Luigi’s Mansion 3 alone outsold both of the Donkey Kong games that area is based on combined.

Right, but I get his point — diversifying the Nintendo offerings makes a lot of sense if they’re not going to spread Nintendo around the three Orlando parks.

 

[Mike S]

Right, but I get his point — diversifying the Nintendo offerings makes a lot of sense if they’re not going to spread Nintendo around the three Orlando parks.

It does but to suggest Luigi’s Mansion is some kind of nothing franchise is more than a bit silly. Just the fact that Luigi is the star already makes it marketable to a park going audience.