Disney to acquire Marvel for $4 billion

The link is a 404.

Just saw this on CNN. Wonder what will happen to all the amusement park licensing? Six Flags, Universal, who else?

Well, that's certainly interesting. I imagine it's going to steam Universal to be paying licensing fees to the competition---and I also imagine that whenever it comes time to renegotiate those licenses, things could get even more "interesting."

This could have a major impact on Universal, depending on if they want to be paying the Mouse House down the road for an entire land at IOA. Six Flags uses DC Comics, so they're not a player in this one. I also can't see Universal just dropping Marvel and going with DC, so this should be interesting.

I'm wondering what's going to happen to IOA. It probably wouldn't be a big deal to re-theme something like Hulk, but the entire Spiderman ride is based around, well, Spiderman. I doubt that Disney is going to want any of its IPs to be located outside of a Disney park, even if they stand to collect a lot of money as part of the deal. And would Universal want to pay for something they never used to have to pay for? Better extend that deal with Spielberg and have him come up with some ideas for that island at IOA.

Universal is in a tough position with this mainly because Marvel was a big differentiator, as no other major player in the industry had Marvel. The most obvious (though very costly and time consuming) choice to keep Super Hero Island is to switch to DC Comics...but your local Six Flags parks all have DC Comics rides and characters. If you switch to DC Comics you lose out on that unique differentiator that you had, or you can pay up to the Mouse for as long as they'll let you.

If Universal or Disney don't move to drop the license fast enough, I can see Disney doing some overhauling of DHS to incorporate Marvel in a big way. DHS is already set up in a city style, the same as Super Hero Island at IOA. If they both have similar areas, Disney could come out with a very strong advantage. In fact, I would say that it is a forgone conclusion at this point that we will see Marvel incorporated into DHS. Who moves faster, and in what direction is the question.

I wonder if they are going to incorperate this into the Disney theme parks?

Besides maybe a dark ride at hollywood studios, I don't see where this will blend well with the mouse.

Speaking of hollywood studios, I just posted a day in pictures report on here for you to check out. Enjoy.........

http://coasterbuzz.com/Forums/Thread/56380.aspx

You can bet that Universal's license for Marvel is good for decades. You don't spend that kind of capital without some assurances.

(Link fixed too... thanks for changing it NYT!)

The license may be good for decades, but will that matter when Disney incorporates Marvel into DHS (like I mentioned, I find that a forgone conclusion)? Disney is holding all of the cards now and Universal can only react to this.

I would think it would still be in Universal's best interest to pay the licensing fees. Yes, they could re-theme the island, but I'm not convinced the time, effort, and financial resources necessary to do so would warrant it. I understand that they're effectively paying the competition for the license, but I think that the marketability of the island in its current state is worth the investment.

This is all contingent on Universal actually having a choice in the matter, a choice which I think would be in Disney's financial interest to offer. After all, they'd be making money off of their own resort plus the merchandise/marketability of Universal's Marvel utilization. Universal already has all the stuff in place, so it wouldn't require any further investment on Disney's part to make money off the licenses. I'm not suggesting that they don't bring some Marvel to the Disney parks, but why not capitalize on the success of Universal?

I think there's a broader issue at hand for the acquisition, though. I hardly think that one themed area at a competing resort warrants a four billion dollar purchase. That may work against the Universal resort as I'm sure that in the big scheme of things, they don't contribute nearly as much as other areas to Marvel's bottom line, but I don't see the sense in throwing something like that away. It's not like Disney has a park which could really benefit from a Marvel Superhero Island of its own. I don't see it really fitting in in any of the WDW parks, anyway.

I am sure that universal has some kind of contract with marvel. They "should" be safe for a little while.

The worst part of this is the spiderman dark ride.

Let's not forget that universal has a ton of movies under it's belt that they could theme the rides to.

4 billion for themeing?? Jebus! That is a hell of a lot of cash. Is Disney planning a new park or something?

Yea...4 billion is a lot.

Theming does matter.I think cedarfair needs to take note of that.

RavenTTD said:
4 billion for themeing?? Jebus! That is a hell of a lot of cash. Is Disney planning a new park or something?

They didn't pay to license the characters - they bought the company.

HUGE difference.

Holy Smokes. Don't underestimate the power of the mouse. The only major rides that this affect is Spidey, Incredible Hulk and Dr Doom. I suspect Universal will keep this license since so much money was invested in that island. 500 million for Spidey alone? That is nothing to sneeze at.

Disney bought marvel for the money they will make on consumer products. Hanna Montana was over a Billion in sales by herself last year. Marvel fill a gap Disney has with products geared toward boys.

Jeff said:
You can bet that Universal's license for Marvel is good for decades. You don't spend that kind of capital without some assurances.

(Link fixed too... thanks for changing it NYT!)

I doubt decades, as either party would want to renegotiate every so often to better side themselves. Most licensing and sponsorships last 10-15 years (Epcot pavilions, for example), so I bet the earliest we would see Planet Snoopy* move into IoA would be 2014 to 2019, still plenty of way off....

*it's a joke, laugh

Though I doubt concern over next year's opening of "The Wizarding World" at IOA played a major role in this acquisition, this transaction has the potential to damage Universal's competitive position at a time when they were threatening to make some inroads against Walt Disney World as a stand-alone vacation destination. My guess is that Marvel Super Hero Island gets a makeover within the next few years. Disney paid 4 billion in part to showcase the characters at their properties and to counteract Princess/Fairy overload. I doubt Universal will want to promote Disney characters at their parks. It is in both parties best interest to work out an agreement along with a reasonable transition period.

Lord Gonchar said:
They didn't pay to license the characters - they bought the company.

HUGE difference.

"The hair club for men - I was so impressed, I bought the company!" ;)

Many of you are clearly forgetting that Disney is much more than just a theme park operator. They're a huge movie and television studio and have a giant consumer products division as well.

What makes any of you think that they're interested in the characters for their theme parks? Marvel characters are not associated with Disney, so I don't see how their immediate inclusion is going to make sense in their existing theme parks. Spiderman or the Incredible Hulk running around Disneyland - yeah right!

Also, I don't see how this sale will affect the current arrangement with Universal. If anything it's a win for Disney since they'll have creative they own in theme parks other than their own.