WDW and Universal merger

[Nautical Mickey]

I just heard on the news this morning that Disney is buying Universal Studios. From what I understand, this merger will include the purchase of Universal Studios in Orlando and Hollywood. The report also said that they are considering adding to the monorail to connect Universal Orlando and WDW.

I am not sure how I feel about this. This is sorta bitter sweet. While Universal is not up to the same standard as WDW, I think Disney will do a great job enhancing Universal's current themes. On the other hand, I am afraid Disney has bit off more than it can chew. I don't think two separate locations will be very inviting for some guests, but we will see how they handle that.

I just hope they don't raise ticket prices to cover this acquisition!!!

[zakerdog]

I heard that too, the deal goes into effect April 1, 2025!

http://tagrel.com/images/logo/af001.png

[Bookwood]

April Fools?????

[Daisee]

Good Try NM!;)

[Lady]

hahahaha

Funny - although I like the monorail link from park to park : )

[Robin]

The report also said that they are considering adding to the monorail to connect Universal Orlando and WDW.

I don't think two separate locations will be very inviting for some guests, but we will see how they handle that.

The talk here is that a bid by Disney to buy the section of the I-4 between Disney and Universal. Orange County Mayor Rich Crotty, was reported to say, that there are limits to Disney's influence and the I-4 is not for sale. He then added that they might be able to work out a deal on Palm Parkway/Turkey Lake which extends from just outside Disney's property lines, running west of I-4 and along the western edge of Universal's property.

There are also rumors that Mears is in negotiations for the new express bus route.

Hotels long Palm Parkway had mixed reactions to the news. Some have hinted they will not object to the sale, if their guests are allowed to participate in the EMH program.

[PaulaR]

:lol:April Fool!!

[FLSharon]

I'm not believing anything I read on this board today!:lol:

[Mickey4Us]

:lol:

But I do have to admit my kids would love to ride a monorail to Univeral. Any trip on a monorail is ok in their book! Just think of how many more times you can hear "por favor..."

[tiggerguy]

if they cant afford to have the monorail go to the Wilderness lodge then going anywhere else is not believable.


tiggerguy

[BuzzsMom]

Lookie here!

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/orl-bk-disney-marvel-entertainment-083109,0,2559631.story

I don't know about this.


Nemo

[Joe]

This could really be interesting...and I think it will really appeal to the young men!

[Timon]

The purchase of Marvel is true. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/01/business/media/01disney.html?_r=2&hp
The question is how much will Universal Studios Florida have to pay Disney to still use the Hulk & Spiderman names for their attractions. Changing the Hulk name on that attraction is easy enough to do, but the Spiderman attraction can’t be done w/out Spiderman. The whole attraction is, pardon the pun, entirely entwined in the character.

[Belle]

Lookie here!

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/orl-bk-disney-marvel-entertainment-083109,0,2559631.story

I don't know about this.


Nemo


Should we start the rumor about the fifth park being a Marvel Comics Park? Keeping the characters seperate from the original parks is a must, but if they created a more "Uni" style park for the tweens using popular comic book/movie characters, there might be a huge opportunity there... :coolSmile:

[roodad]

Should we start the rumor about the fifth park being a Marvel Comics Park? Keeping the characters seperate from the original parks is a must, but if they created a more "Uni" style park for the tweens using popular comic book/movie characters, there might be a huge opportunity there... :coolSmile:

One of my first thoughts was that we would see an X-Men park or other attraction, such as a water park (I have no idea how water park attendance has been holding up).

[Moley]

One of my first thoughts was that we would see an X-Men park or other attraction, such as a water park (I have no idea how water park attendance has been holding up).

If it is to be a water park, I will fit right in the Incredible Hulk section.

[Big Red]

If it is to be a water park, I will fit right in the Incredible Hulk section.

Moley nevermind the Incredible Hulk section....if there is an X-Men park there could be a Hugh Jackman ride!!!!!!!!!!

[kathleena]

Moley nevermind the Incredible Hulk section....if there is an X-Men park there could be a Hugh Jackman ride!!!!!!!!!!

I would ride Hugh Jackman. Um er......the ride that is.......

[kathleena]

Oh and whoo-hoo Disney buying Marvel - I wonder what that does do to Universal........................

[Robin]

From what the articles says, Universal has rights to the characters 'east of the Mississippi...forever. It could be that Disney has no interest in adding Marvel theming to WDW. But once the current construction is complete in DCA they could rip up the asphalt over the Strawberry Field and add a Marvel themed third park.

Marvel also has various deals with the two-park Universal Orlando. The agreements governing two of Universal's hugely popular rides, The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man and The Incredible Hulk roller coaster, appear to be virtually perpetual deals. According to Universal's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Universal Orlando retains American rights east of the Mississippi River for as long as its attractions are in operation.

Universal and Marvel also have various deals for everything from merchandise sales to the theming of many other portions of the Orlando resort's Islands of Adventure theme park. When asked about Marvel's licensing deals with other companies for movie projects, Iger said Disney would honor the terms of those contracts. He did not specifically comment on Marvel's deal with Universal Orlando, nor did Perlmutter.

I am surprised that Disney would want anything where theirs are tied to fully exploit those characters. Or maybe the licensing fees are appealing enough to let Universal have the expense, and they'll just take the money.

Filming distribution for a number of popular franchises exist between Marvel and other studios, so that ties Disney's hands for a few years on them.

I am confused on whether Disney can sell Marvel related merchandise outside the parks on the east coast. Or do they plan to only go outside the US?

Personally, with restrictions, I don't really see the appeal of Marvel for Disney. Not for 4 billion.

I wish instead they'd have bought Sea World, and kept it virtually autonomous with it's current successful management team. I've found Sea World's merchandising weak in the past, and Disney is good that. Their research would add to Disney's Nature line. Plenty of characters that are under used at WDW, would be welcome at Sea World, as the Sesame Street characters are seasonally.

Iron Man dolls marketed in Europe. Eh.

[Snickerdoodlesmommy]

A little while ago there was some Scuttlebutt going around that GE wanted to sell NBC. Since the FCC does not allow one single owner to own 2 networks at the same time, Disney (the owner of ABC) would not be able to step forward with any interest.
GE also owns Universal

[Robin]

The talk on the business sites is the Disney bought Marvel to appeal to boys.

They also said that with the existing contracts between Marvel and other companies, Disney will simple get a share of the profits or licensing fees that exist now. Buy a Hulk t-shirt at Universal, and Disney will get a cut. :lol:

The one thing I'm not sure is whether Universal has east coast rights to ALL Marvel characters or just the ones they currently use.

As a side note, I never realized that Superman and Batman are both from DC Comics.

Disney’s Marvel Buy Traps Hollywood in Spider-Man Web

By Andy Fixmer and Sarah Rabil
Bloomberg (http://bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=at45qRm.Knzg#)

Sept. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Walt Disney Co. (http://bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=DIS%3AUS), the world’s biggest media company, outflanked Hollywood competitors while enhancing its film lineup with the $4 billion acquisition of comic-book pioneer Marvel Entertainment Inc. (http://bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=MVL%3AUS)

As Marvel’s new owner, Disney will collect license fees from Universal Orlando theme-park rides (http://www.universalorlando.com/amusement-parks/theme-park-overview.html) in Florida that include “The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man” and “Incredible Hulk Coaster,” as well as ticket sales from the films “Iron Man 2” and “Thor,” distributed by Viacom Inc. (http://bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=VIA%2FB%3AUS)’s Paramount Pictures.

With Marvel, Disney is buying its way into business with competitors who have had rights to super-hero films, theme-park rides and television shows for years. Disney, based in Burbank, California, gains a stake in revenue streams that have enriched its rivals -- until it can take over the deals itself.

“I don’t think they’re going to play nice, I don’t think they’re going to share,” Jamie Rizzo (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Jamie+Rizzo&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1), an analyst with Fitch Ratings in New York, said yesterday. “The days of licensing any of these characters to any of the other guys or letting any of the other guys distribute any of these movies is over.”

The deal helps Disney, which struggled earlier this year at the box office while competing studios benefited from superhero fare and franchises such as Paramount’s “Star Trek.”

Marvel has licensed X-Men to News Corp. (http://bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=NWS%3AUS), Spider-Man to Sony Corp. (http://bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=SNE%3AUS) and the Incredible Hulk to General Electric Co. (http://bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=GE%3AUS)’s NBC Universal Inc. Disney will get revenue from future projects involving those franchises, whose combined box-office take has totaled $4.5 billion worldwide, according to researcher Internet Movie Database.

“They have done a nice job with the deals they have in place,” Disney Chief Financial Officer Tom Staggs (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Tom+Staggs&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1) said yesterday in an interview. “When those deals expire, we’ll take a look at whether to bring them in-house.”

Paramount Deal
Paramount is exposed as the distributor of films made by Marvel, Michael Morris (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Michael+Morris&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1), an analyst at UBS AG in New York, said yesterday in report. New York-based Marvel began making pictures on its own instead of licensing characters, starting with last year’s “Iron Man,” which took in $585.1 million worldwide, according to researcher Box Office Mojo.

Paramount’s deal runs out after five more Marvel movies, including two “Iron Man” sequels, “Thor,” “The First Avenger: Captain America,” and “The Avengers.”

“We look forward to continuing to work with Marvel and, with today’s announcement, to working with Disney to replicate the incredible success of ‘Iron Man’ on all our future collaborative projects,” Paramount said yesterday in a statement. The studio declined to comment further, spokeswoman Patti Rockenwagner (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Patti+Rockenwagner&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1) said.

Pool of Characters
Acquiring Marvel also gives Disney the right to deprive its rivals of access to more than 5,000 Marvel characters that aren’t already in use, said Bob Gersh (http://pro.imdb.com/name/nm2231606/), partner and co-president of the Gersh Agency, a Los Angeles talent-representation firm.

The Marvel deal marks the second time this year that Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Robert+Iger&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1) has muscled in on turf occupied by rivals. Steven Spielberg (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Steven+Spielberg&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1)’s new DreamWorks studio, which split from Paramount last year, agreed in February to release movies through Disney, after holding talks with Universal Studios.

A Disney film based on a Marvel storyline could reach theaters within two to three years, Gersh said yesterday in an interview. Disney isn’t likely to interfere with Marvel’s existing contracts, he said.

“Those deals will run out and then Disney will have them exclusively,” Gersh said. “You look over the last several years starting with Pixar, then the Spielberg deal and now Marvel, these are three very significant deals for Disney.”

Joining Mickey Mouse
Disney will use Marvel characters in its theme parks wherever possible, Iger said in an interview with CNBC yesterday. “Marvel characters have already proven to be strong in terms of theme-park attraction, and we believe there are a lot of opportunities around the world,” he said.

Spider-Man and other Marvel characters may begin to appear alongside Mickey Mouse and Buzz Lightyear by next year in parades at Disneyland in Anaheim, California and the adjacent California Adventure, said Robert Niles (http://www.themeparkinsider.com/community/member.cfm?bio=robert), editor of ThemeParkInsider.com, an industry newsletter, in an interview.

The earliest Disney could add a Marvel theme-park attraction in California would be 2013, Niles said.

Disney may be prevented from using Marvel characters at Walt Disney World near Orlando, Niles said. Universal Orlando, co-owned by Fairfield, Connecticut-based GE’s NBC Universal and New York-based Blackstone Group LP, has U.S. rights east of the Mississippi River to attractions based on Marvel characters that include Spider-Man and the Incredible Hulk, he said.

To the extent Universal Orlando is successful, Disney also wins through its ownership of Marvel, Niles said.

Universal’s Rights
The theme-park agreement with Marvel will stand for as long as Universal Orlando follows its terms, NBC Universal spokeswoman Cindy Gardner (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Cindy+Gardner&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1) said in an e-mailed statement.

“Marvel characters are an important part of the Universal Orlando experience,” Gardner said in the statement. “They will remain so.”
Disney plans to use Marvel characters to bolster programming on Disney XD, a cable channel targeting boys, the same audience sought by Viacom’s Nickelodeon and New York-based Time Warner Inc. (http://bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=TWX%3AUS)’s Cartoon Network, said Fitch’s Rizzo.

It seems less likely that a cable channel planned by Silver Spring, Maryland-based Discovery Communications Inc. (http://bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=DISCA%3AUS) and toymaker Hasbro Inc. (http://bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=HAS%3AUS) in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, will include Marvel programming, Morris said.
Disney rose 25 cents to $26.29 at 9:53 a.m. New York time in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Marvel advanced 4 cents to $48.41. New York-based Viacom, controlled by Chairman Sumner Redstone (http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Sumner+Redstone&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1), gained 27 cents to $25.31.

The deal is contingent on approvals by Marvel shareholders and U.S. regulators (http://bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=MVL%3AUS). It will start adding to Disney’s earnings in fiscal 2012, Iger said yesterday on a conference call.

Disney plans to expand Marvel’s biggest business, licensing its characters, Staggs said. Licensing, larger than the film or comic-book divisions, accounted for $292.8 million in Marvel’s 2008 revenue and $242.3 million in operating profit, according to Bloomberg data (http://bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=MVL%3AUS).