Universal Or Disney Considering Lord Of The Rings Theme Park?
Pictured above: The welcoming, family-friendly sights of Mordor.
Middle-earth wouldn’t be the first place I’d think of to fashion a theme park around, but that’s not stopping Universal Studios from considering the idea. They must be having a lot of success with theirrecently openedWizarding World of Harry Potter, because they’re now trying to test the waters with a potentialLord of the Ringsattraction, gauging reactions through email surveys. Check out the studio’s pitch after the break.
The One Ringtook note of the message board postings from a variety of Disney chat sites, one of which featured a segment from the email:
With each of their respective film adaptations,The Lord of the RingsandHarry Potterhave had very comparable box office grosses, so it makes sense that Universal would be looking into the possibility of expanding Tolkien’s fantastical world much in the way that they did J.K. Rowling’s. That doesn’t, however, mean that it’s a good idea, or even a financially viable one. The world surroundingHarry Potteris one that lends itself to “fun and whimsy”, as a brochure might sell it, and there are plenty of opportunities to take advantage of food/drink concessions. If I were a child, I could totally imagine myself wanting to explore a recreation of Hogwarts, or going to Hogsmeade to try Butterbeer.
But outside of the most fanatic ofLord of the Ringsfans, who exactly are they targeting for a Middle-earth recreation? In order for a theme park to be successful, doesn’t it need to appeal to young kids? Would families really be interested in walking around men dressed as Orcs or checking out dirt-hole homes or taking their children to admire to the ashy, hellish terrain of Mordor? I can already picture the food & drink menu: bread, biscuits, potatoes, and beer. (Honey-cakehas potential, though.)
It’s an interesting idea, but I can’t imagine anything coming of this.
