Niles: Why single-franchise lands are Disney and Universal’s secret weapon
Disney and Universal have been spending billions of dollars on one specific way to transform the look of their theme parks. But will these investments come back to haunt them?
Ever since Universal shook up the industry with The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in 2010, both Universal and Disney have been trying to replicate that success with new theme park lands devoted to single intellectual properties. Disney California Adventure got its Cars Land in 2012, with Disneyland adding Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in 2019 and Avengers Campus at DCA in 2021. Just this year, Universal Studios Hollywood opened Super Nintendo World, while Disney has introduced The World of Frozen in Hong Kong and Zootopia in Shanghai.
In 2025, Universal will make its biggest investment in single-IP lands with a new theme park, Universal Epic Universe, in which four of its five lands will be devoted to single IPs, including Nintendo and Harry Potter. But a reader recently asked me about the risk that Universal is taking by spending so much money to develop entire lands devoted to each of these franchises.
“What is the plan once the four IPs being used are not as relevant or successful? In current parks, attractions can be torn down or redone as something new. (That’s) hard to do with these huge lands.”
Indeed. Even Harry Potter — the franchise that started this wave — has seen fans’ enthusiasm cool over recent years. Granted, Potter had been so hot that some fallback was inevitable, but the controversy surrounding franchise author J.K. Rowling and weak performance by the recent “Fantastic Beasts” films have not helped the franchise.
Still, Potter retains enough fans that Universal is going ahead with another Wizarding World land in its new park. Ultimately, it’s the quality of experience that determines an attraction’s eventual success, even more than its theme. (Waterworld, anyone?) That is something well within a park’s control. I think enthusiasm among casual fans for Galaxy’s Edge increased substantially after Rise of the Resistance opened. The promised new E-ticket attraction in Avengers Campus should do the same for that land, whenever it opens.
The real challenge for these lands is not creative. It’s legal. When parks develop successful lands based on IP licensed from other companies, they face a tough decision if and when that license expires: pay up for an extension, or throw away a successful land by having to retheme or develop it.
Disney took care of some of its licensing challenges by buying the studios that licensed Disney the rights to build Star Wars and Avatar attractions. Many fans are hoping that NBCUniversal might do the same by acquiring Warner Bros., which controls Potter. Either way, though, these lands represent huge investments that less-capitalized competitors such as SeaWorld and the new Six Flags simply cannot afford to match.
By immersing fans in beloved environments that no one else can afford to create, single-IP lands will continue to be the magic spell that allows Disney and Universal to expand their lead in theme park business. So expect to see more of them in the decade to come.