The Future of Lost Continent

[Legacy]

I’ve talked about this in the Epic Universe expansion thread (where I still think it’s more applicable): any Oz/Wicked land is going to predominantly be Emerald City. Every place that you could, would want to visit in Oz is accessible from the Emerald City. The universally recognizable set piece is the Emerald City with the Wizard’s Tower, and a hot air balloon (in the Emerald City).

If (big big if I don’t necessarily see) Wicked is coming to Lost Continent, you likely just getting a ride. That’s it. But, that ride will go through important regions of Oz that apply to both Wizard of Oz and Wicked—Muchkinland and Winkie Country/Kiamo Ko—plus a slight detour to Shiz.

Even with Harry Potter, Universal saw fit to build its lands around city/towns near the school… not the actual school.

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

I feel dust off the Omnimover Pokémon Safari concept and we have our main ride. Tons of AAs, young ones can get on, probably more a 5-7 min ride if it’s the main one plus a show, this feels right to me.

Pokemon is a complete foreign language to me so I would be down for this. But would fans be satisfied?

I’ve talked about this in the Epic Universe expansion thread (where I still think it’s more applicable): any Oz/Wicked land is going to predominantly be Emerald City. Every place that you could, would want to visit in Oz is accessible from the Emerald City. The universally recognizable set piece is the Emerald City with the Wizard’s Tower, and a hot air balloon (in the Emerald City).

If (big big if I don’t necessarily see) Wicked is coming to Lost Continent, you likely just getting a ride. That’s it. But, that ride will go through important regions of Oz that apply to both Wizard of Oz and Wicked—Muchkinland and Winkie Country/Kiamo Ko—plus a slight detour to Shiz.

Even with Harry Potter, Universal saw fit to build its lands around city/towns near the school… not the actual school.

A wise choice ESPECIALLY if it were to replace LC--there's a magic school right next to it after all.

 

[Skipper Justin]

If they ever do Wicked, you know they aren’t doing Shiz. I’m a huge Wicked fan and I never had a doubt that they wouldn’t do Shiz.

 

[quinnmac000]

Truthfully speaking if we really are being honest, the IP replacing LC doesn't really matter. From Epic Universe early IP discussions etc....when the park finally came out the most excited attractions and the most liked lands changed. It goes back to every single discussion on this board were people argue about the IP but really the main thing is the attractions and what is coming. If the attraction is well designed and fun, they can make it Labubu and everyone will be okay with it despite not liking the IP.

So I hope whatever comes here is an attraction worth of the park and brings so many exciting and cool elements that it is an amazing experience.

 

[captainmoch]

I don't exactly think One Piece is getting a permanent presence in a Universal park anytime soon but it's wild how theme park forums will look at some of the most profitable media franchises of the past 30 years and think "I don't personally care or know much about this so it must be niche." I personally think One Piece has more cultural relevance than Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald at bare minimum.

 

[Jake S]

I'm sure someone has spent more time thinking about this than I have, but isn't part of what's happening here that monoculture is well and truly dead? When The Wizard of Oz was released everyone was aware of it. It had an enormous breadth in addition to the depth that comes with generations of super fans.

We're not creating very many widely-known or widely-appreciated pieces of art anymore, which is why you see the three big companies that make crap go back to the same crap over and over again. It's hard to find an IP with the kind of reach Jurassic Park, Star Wars or Marvel has.

What we do have are many properties that have significant depth. That's how you end up with video games making billions of dollars that are not widely known in the way Superman is. Those properties can, obviously, still be very successful theme park attractions but I think a couple things happen here:

• If you're unfamiliar with a property, it's easy to dismiss it without recognizing how popular it is with the people who love it
• If you're one of the people who loves a property like this, it can be easy to get defensive and claim the first person is living under a rock

I think in reality we're just looking at a new normal. There are extremely ubiquitous properties, like Pokemon, that do not have a significant theme park presence. But more and more, and you're seeing this at seasonal events, these parks are going to try to accumulate properties that have super fans who will shell out big money to eat themed food and buy merchandise.