[DisneyAnne]

I recently read that rumors have it that Disney has acquired rights to Harry Potter for theme park imagineering. Any thoughts on the things they could do with this? My thinking is that it would belong at MGM...or is it Disney Studios? Anyway....just curious what others think about this.......:wow:

[MickeyMac]

oooooohhhhh.... a HP themed dinner at the Castle, a "Magic Abounds" parade at MK, a mental thrill challenge game over at MGM with giant chess boards and three headed dogs, a Meet & Greet at a 'hidden' location over at the UK Pavillion, and an interactive exhibit over at the Imagination Pavillion, and he could DEFinately be the spokesperson over at the imaginary creatures exhibit they keep talking about at Animal Kingdom. At the very least, they could do themed weekends a la Star Wars.

[mickaholic4077]

Oh wow! Wouldn't that be great. I am a BIG Harry Potter fan. Where did you read this,DisneyAnne?

[DisneyAnne]

Don't laugh but it was a Universal rumor page. :whistle: They were all excited about getting the Lord of the Rings rights and saying that at a recent press conference, a Universal official was asked about the odds of getting rights to HP. His answer was that Disney has HP but that Universal was working on The Rings trilogy.....Hope its right. I don't read the books, but I have seen the movies and they are great. My kids :heart HP!

[mickaholic4077]

I wonder if anyone from Disney will confirm this.

[wdwspider]

This is what little I understand of it (and I could be wrong on this).

No, Disney does not own Scholastic. Sorry. :-)

Think about Muppets, they still do outside films but have attractions in the parks, even did some Disney movies. MGM has had the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Ace Ventura, and other outside movie franchises (Indy, Star Wars, Twilight Zone) within their parks because no one else had the rights. It is very plausible.


Heck, I even heard that MGM was trying to buy Universal the other day. :dazed

[mmouse67l]

Ok, if this is true, my son would get so excited he might explode.:laugh

Disney and Harry Potter are probably his two favorite things in the world.

Come to think of it his Momma might too...

[mickaholic4077]

Originally posted by WDWspider
This is what little I understand of it (and I could be wrong on this).

Apparently Disney is the parent company of the company that publishes the books. If Disney were to elect to do a ride, show, parade, or attraction it would need to be based on the book characters and not the Movie characters. Apparently, even though WB is doing the movies, they have no more priviledges other than doing movies and franchising off of the movie elements. So, it is very possible that Disney may capitalize on this if in fact they do have attraction rights now as well.

Think about Muppets, they still do outside films but have attractions in the parks, even did some Disney movies. MGM has had the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Ace Ventura, and other outside movie franchises (Indy, Star Wars, Twilight Zone) within their parks because no one else had the rights. It is very plausible.


Heck, I even heard that MGM was trying to buy Universal the other day. :dazed

So Disney owns Scholastic Press,who is the US publisher of the HP books?

[dznygrl]

Okay, that would be the coolest thing ever! Disney AND Harry Potter??? I've died and gone to heaven! :heart

[teresadisney]

What if disney does own the rights to HP in the US? (wouldn't they have acted on it by now?)----Anyway back to my what if. . .

Wouldn't it be cool that since DL does the haunted mansion holiday, WDW could do something with the HM geared toward HP at christmas?

[dznygrl]

Originally posted by teresadisney
What if disney does own the rights to HP in the US? (wouldn't they have acted on it by now?)----Anyway back to my what if. . .

Wouldn't it be cool that since DL does the haunted mansion holiday, WDW could do something with the HM geared toward HP at christmas?

Can you imagine if they did something *extremely* cool like build at least a partial Hogwarts? And then it could be decorated for Christmas? That would be soooo beautiful. I'm sure something so complex would detract from the other important landmarks, though...

[wdwspider]

Now if Disney does have the rights and for the question of Why Disney has not acted on this yet? Who knows, maybe WB had an exclusive franchise right for x amount of years, maybe Disney was just recently given the option of Amusement park use by the Authur. Really I cannot answer that, but I will say that if Disney does do an attraction now, it appears that Harry Potter will continue to be a success and remain popular for quite some time. Too often parks capitalize on the immediate and by the time all is said and done it's too little too late. Perhaps Disney was wanting to be sure that Potter was not just a one (or two) hit wonder.

[Thumper]

There are so many amazing possibilities!!! How cool would it be to have a ride themed around the flying car and ending in the whomping willow! My DS would go crazy! (Me too, Me too)! :p

[dznygrl]

Oooh, a flying car ride would be so great, I agree! :D On the way to the coast from our house, there is a farm on a hillside and they have a truck suspended in a huge tree...don't ask me how! But that tree has fondly been dubbed the Whomping Willow by our family. :)
Just think how magical it would be to celebrate a Harry Potter Christmas at the Studios! :heart

[rlander]

I can see this "pontential" ride being like Peter Pan. It will make Harry Potter become an American (English:p) icon. Just like Peter Pan, in the 1950's, it became a classic over time and now the ride let's you relive the dream. I can see going to MK 20 years from now and reliving the Harry Potter excitment all over again.