Updated 4/13 Universal Stepping up their Game Again

[Travisma 1,317]

51 minutes ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

I'd love to read the actual contractual language some day.

I recently heard an advertisement for a "Marvel Live" show that is going to be traveling around Florida next month.  It sounds like it's from the Disney on Ice people.  The commercial listed a lot of the Marvel Avengers characters.  Since these performances will not be in a theme park, I assume that Disney has the right to license that show.

TCD

Amalie Arena in Tampa, January 5th thru 7th.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

25 minutes ago, Travisma said:

Amalie Arena in Tampa, January 5th thru 7th.

Yes, that's the show I heard advertised.

They are heading over to Orlando right after that: https://www.marveluniverselive.com/tickets

Which makes me wonder about the 60 mile radius restrictions mentioned in the article you posted:

18 hours ago, Travisma said:

This spells out Universals rights to Marvel Characters. Wonder if it only covered ones that were around in the 90's and that's why Disney can have Guardians at WDW?

Back in the 1990s, long before Marvel was acquired by Disney, they signed an impressively tight contract with Universal for the rights to the characters in use within theme park attractions. The contract limits the use of the characters on the east coast of the country to Universal Orlando with even tighter restrictions within a 60-mile radius of the Orlando parks. The contract does have a few stipulations, like ensuring upkeep of the rides, but overall is definitely more favorable to Universal than Marvel.

TCD

[Travisma 1,317]

33 minutes ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

Yes, that's the show I heard advertised.

They are heading over to Orlando right after that: https://www.marveluniverselive.com/tickets

Which makes me wonder about the 60 mile radius restrictions mentioned in the article you posted:

TCD

It's put on by Feld Entertainment (based out of the Sarasota area).

Feld Entertainment^® is the worldwide leader in producing and presenting live touring family entertainment experiences that lift the human spirit and create indelible memories, with 30 million people in attendance at its shows each year. Feld Entertainment's productions have appeared in more than 75 countries on six continents and include Monster Jam^®, Monster Energy Supercross, AMSOIL Arenacross, Marvel Universe LIVE!, Disney On Ice, Disney Live! and Sesame Street Live!

 

Feld Entertainment Studios 
Where world-class productions prepare for the world stage

Located on Florida’s Gulf Coast, the global headquarters of Feld 

Entertainment^® is home to the largest and most innovative facility of its kind in the world. No one does what we do, and no other facility delivers such true integration and remarkable industry production standards. With more than 580,000 sq. ft. under one roof, we have the unique ability to set up the tour, design and build the set, create the show and pack it for the road. Our one-stop-shop offers an exceptional 50,000 square-foot rehearsal space, on-site design and fabrication, in-house operational expertise and administration support services, all for ultimate cost efficiency for both celebrated Feld Entertainment productions and for producers looking for a staging and rehearsal venue to take their production to the world stage. Feld Entertainment Studios, quite simply, offers the quality and operational expertise you would expect from the world leader in live-action family entertainment.

Guess they worked out some sort of deal with Marvel and Universal.

[wdwpoohbear...Jennifer 40]

Feld Entertainment is down the street from where I live and I pass by it regularly.  The building is massive.  I wonder if they do tours of the place...it would be cool to get inside and see the behind the scenes things.

[Travisma 1,317]

1 minute ago, wdwpoohbear...Jennifer said:

Feld Entertainment is down the street from where I live and I pass by it regularly.  The building is massive.  I wonder if they do tours of the place...it would be cool to get inside and see the behind the scenes things.

Wouldn't hurt to ask...

 

Contact Us

 

Worldwide Headquarters	Customer Service	Other
800 Feld Way Palmetto, FL 34221 P: (941) 721-1200               [email protected]	800 Feld Way Palmetto, FL 34221 P: (800) 844-3545, 9am - 5pm   Monday - Friday (EST) Ringling Bros. & Feld Motor Sports  [email protected]  Disney On Ice and Disney Live! [email protected]     Donation Request Form Souvenirs & Concessions Email: [email protected] P: (800) 755-1530 Feld Entertainment, Inc, Europe [email protected]	Media Relations 800 Feld Way Palmetto, FL 34221 P: (703) 448-4120 (between 9:00am to 5:30pm Eastern time To receive contact information for one of our regional media relations offices by return email, send an email to: [email protected]  For Partnership and Promotional Opportunities [email protected]  Group Sales 800 Feld Way Palmetto, FL 34221 Email: [email protected]  P: (866) 248-8740, 9am - 6pm Monday - Friday (EST) For Procurement & Sourcing/Purchasing Opportunities  Suppliers Registration Form  Feld Entertainment Studios [email protected] For Corporate VIP Hospitality Opportunities [email protected]

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

11 minutes ago, wdwpoohbear...Jennifer said:

Feld Entertainment is down the street from where I live and I pass by it regularly.  The building is massive.  I wonder if they do tours of the place...it would be cool to get inside and see the behind the scenes things.

Very cool.  I know that they were the producers for the Ringling Brothers circus for a long time. It seems that they have carried on without missing a beat.  Good for them.  The logistics of operating these shows must be incredible.

TCD

[Travisma 1,317]

4 minutes ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

Very cool.  I know that they were the producers for the Ringling Brothers circus for a long time. It seems that they have carried on without missing a beat.  Good for them.  The logistics of operating these shows must be incredible.

TCD

They've been doing these shows for years along with Ringling.  I guess they need to find more acts now to make up for that loss.

[wdwpoohbear...Jennifer 40]

It looks like Feld Entertainment still donates money or are affiliated in some way with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Center for Elephant Conservation which is in Central Florida.  It sounds like they retired some of or all of the herd here.  I will definitely check that place out sometime soon.  Pretty cool!

[Cortezcapt (Derek) 156]

I always wondered what they did in that building when we pass it, but have never bothered to look it up. That mystery is solved. It would be cool to get a tour through it, it's a massive place. 

[Travisma 1,317]

From Orlando Weekly and other sites.

 

Universal gets its way and acquires more land near I-Drive for future theme parks

 

After years of speculation, Universal Studios has now secured the additional property that crisscrossed their southern property. The purchase also includes the long sought after deed rights that had previously blocked Universal from building a theme park on the property.

Ironically, the property was previously owned by Universal Studios but sold it in 2003 when its former parent company, Vivendi, was struggling financially (around the same time Vivendi began talks to sell Universal to NBC which happened less than a year later). 

The 1,800 acres were sold to Georgia developer Stan Thomas for $70 million, but Universal ensured it wouldn’t be facing any competition by placing a deed on the property banning large-scale amusement uses, including theme parks. Before selling the property, Universal had submitted plans to Orange County for a third theme park, 2 18-hole golf courses, 2 million square feet of retail, and more than 10,000 hotel and timeshare units. 

Within two years Thomas has spent more than $325 million on land in the tourist district. A grand vision for the property called for horseback riding trails, a water taxi system, and numerous luxury resorts. Missing from the plans was a central theme park, thanks in part to the deed placed on the property by Universal. The first resort was built, a Westin resort now known as the Las Palmeras by Hilton Grand Vacations, but then the Recession hit. 
 

Since the Recession, Thomas struggled to keep his finances in order with investors much more wary of luxury developments, like the one Thomas was proposing. On the other hand, during this same time, Universal saw an unprecedented stretch of growth, thanks in part of Harry Potter and the free-flowing cash from their new parent company, Comcast. 

In 2015, Thomas lost a significant amount of the land to a $285 million foreclosure. Universal quickly bought numerous chunks of the land they formerly owned while others developers bought up small pieces. Many of those smaller sections have since been developed to include numerous apartments, TopGolf, Andretti Indoor Karting and Games, and various strip malls. 

One of the largest undeveloped sections not owned by Universal is a 40-acre parcel purchased by Ripley’s Entertainment, the Orlando-based parent company of Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Odditorium. 

It’s believed that Ripley’s will move their headquarters to this property and will develop an entertainment complex on it that will be anchored by their various brands, possibly including an aquarium. 

After years of buying plots as they were foreclosed on, or otherwise became available, Universal acquired more than 500 acres, though much of it was a piecemeal of smaller plots, many of which were unconnected. 

The property also still included that strict deed restriction on it that banned theme parks. Universal sued, referencing Thomas’s silence on a 2016 proposal, Thomas argued silence isn’t consent and that he retained the rights to block theme parks from the development. His argument involved stating that a former owner retains the rights to enforce deed restrictions placed upon property they no longer own. 

Most industry experts expected Universal to eventually get what it wanted, though few thought they would win the case since both local rules and national court precedent uphold deed restrictions placed on land by former owners. 

By December of last year, rumors of a new theme park were everywhere despite the ongoing legal fight. Most noticeable was at Universal Studios Florida itself, where the Super Nintendo World project had yet to break ground despite Kids Zone, the area it was believed to be replacing, being expected to close as early as mid-2016. 

Many team members had stated that they had been told to expect to be moved to other areas, with Kids Zone closing by the fall of 2016. The closure never happened. By the beginning of this year, rumors began rolling in stating that Universal was instead going to build Super Nintendo World at its third park (or fourth if you count Volcano Bay) on the southern property. 

According to numerous sources, teams at Universal Creative were put in charge of developing the new park with negations for Lord of the Rings, Nintendo, and more Potter ongoing regarding their use in the park. All of this occurred despite the legal case that most experts believed Universal to be on the losing end of. 

Then, as the case began yesterday morning, representatives from Universal informed the judge that a settlement regarding the deed restrictions had been reached. Later in the day when speaking before the judge an attorney for Universal referred to the theme park plans for the property as being “obviously super, super secret commercial information.” This was one of the first times Universal has publicly acknowledged the rumored theme park plans. 

New documents filed with Orange County today show that Universal now owns the full deeds to the property outright, removing Stan Thomas completely from them. Other records indicate that Universal has also purchased some of Thomas’s Universal Boulevard property, though at this time it is unclear how much property has exchanged hands and what parcels it includes. 

No financial information was shared at this time, though those documents should be posted within the next few weeks. The Orlando Sentinel is reporting that Thomas’s companies did report removing $144.7 million in debt including a 200-acre parcel that was facing a $27 million foreclosure. 

It’s believed that Universal now owns nearly 1,000 acres south of Kirkman Drive and west of International Drive. The current Universal Orlando Resort, not including the Wet ‘N Wild property, is 541 acres. 

Universal has yet to announce what it plans to do with their southern property, but most expect at least one theme park, numerous hotels, and an expanded service area of offices and other non-guest areas. 

Current speculation places the opening of the new theme park in the first half of the 2020s, just after Disney World’s major 50th Anniversary celebration in 2021. 

Hotels and other developments on the property could open much sooner. A second, boutique park and a large CityWalk style shopping center have also been rumored for the property, though most expect Universal to ignore former plans for a golf course on the site. 

[WrigleysWagon 32]

With RV ownership on the rise, I wonder if a campground would even be a consideration for them?  There seems to be a shortage of campgrounds in the area (at least highly rated ones) especially when you consider how big of a tourist destination the Orlando area is.  On that note, would you guys just stay at the fort fro a trip to Universal, or is there somewhere else that would be a little better suited? 

[keith_h 420]

6 hours ago, WrigleysWagon said:

On that note, would you guys just stay at the fort fro a trip to Universal, or is there somewhere else that would be a little better suited? 

A few years ago we made a trip to the Fort solely for the purpose of hanging out and spending a couple of days at Universal.