Rumor: Universal Considering Lord of the Rings Theme Park

[Tom Goldman]

Rumor: Universal Considering Lord of the Rings Theme Park

Groups of Lord of the Rings fans may be compelled to form fellowships for their journey to a rumored future Universal theme park.

Sports stars may have a new destination to vacation at after winning major events in coming years. Instead of exclaiming "I'm going to Disney World!", they may yell "I'm going to Lord of the Rings [http://www.amazon.com/J-R-R-Tolkien-Boxed-Hobbit-Rings/dp/0345340426/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1281831824&sr=1-1] World!" instead, with Universal Studios rumored to be testing the waters on how people would feel about a theme park based around the property. It could happen.

On a Disney forum [http://micechat.com/forums/universal-studios/141692-universal-considering-lord-rings.html], one poster revealed a survey which is said to be obvious in its prodding to see if anybody would want to visit a Lord of the Rings theme park. The survey didn't reveal anything specific, but asked about "types of rides/attractions, merchandise, [and] walking characters" that such a park might have if it were to exist.

A quote from the survey supposedly read:

Imagine if you will a world unlike any you've ever visited before: it's Middle Earth, the ancient and beautiful land forged by J.R.R. Tolkien as the backdrop for his two most well known creations, Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Walk as a human among dwarves, elves, orcs and hobbits-all faithfully recreated and portrayed in the spirit of the original characters as they appeared in both the books and the movies. In this land you'll experience one-of-a-kind rides and attractions that bring to life some of the most memorable experiences of Tolkien's world including Bilbo's hobbit hole, the fortress at Isengard (before it was destroyed) and even the dark world of Mordor-including the terrifying volcanic Mount Doom.

Though this could be speculation and rumor, it makes perfect sense for Universal to develop a Lord of the Rings park similar to that which it did for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter [http://www.amazon.com/Harry-Potter-Paperback-Box-Books/dp/0545162076/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1281831965&sr=8-6]. Both are billion-dollar franchises that people would specifically take a trip to experience more of. But will hardcore Lord of the Rings fans embrace a theme park, or would they decry it as a bastardization of J.R.R. Tolkien's original works? I'm thinking embrace, once they've felt the heat of Sauron's eye, been bitten on the heels by a man dressed as Gollum, or jumped down into the firey foam pit of Mount Doom.

Via: Blastr [http://blastr.com/2010/08/is-universal-building-a-l.php]

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[Enigmers]

"For only the admission fee of $29.95, you can simply walk into Mordor!"

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Attendees are required to walk for 3 hours before dumping their change in a mock volcano.

/Clerks2

 

[AlternatePFG]

"For only the admission fee of $29.95, you can simply walk into Mordor!"

Haha.

I wonder if they will hold mock battles in the middle of the day?

 

[SturmDolch]

Oh YES! Sounds awesome! I love theme parks and I love Lord of the Rings. What could possibly go wrong!


...

 

[StriderShinryu]

This could be.. I'm really not sure how this could be.

 

[Heart of Darkness]

Wait, so does this mean that LotR would get it's own theme park, while all Harry Potter got was a part of Islands of Adventure? Or will it get its own island, too? I mean, I can understand the former (what with LotR being much, much older than HP), but it seems like a case of favoritism to me.

Ah, well, I'm more concerned about where they put the park. Central Florida's already crowded enough with Magic Kingdom, Epcot, MGM Studios, Animal Kingdom, Sea World, and Universal Studios/IoA. Then again, more income from the tourists coming to the park (if it's built in Central Florida) would be welcome...

 

[HT_Black]

I wonder if they'll serve authentic lower-class Gondorian Slop at the resturaunts. One thing's for sure though: if this place gets built, it's going the be the sort of Godforsaken rathole where the brats roll on the floor with the dogs.

/Saruman

 

[tk1989]

This sounds A-MA-ZING!

 

[Fingolfin High-King of the Noldor]

I'm a fan of it. I would actually go to it. I can't imagine how it could be a horrible thing so it has to be at least mediocre. And that's good enough for me!!

 

[VulakAerr]

I'm a fan of it.

I never would have guessed from the name.

This will automatically be fucking incredible. Sign me up. Fuck it, I'm in the UK but I will gladly pay the air fare. The only problem is whether or not I can stop wetting my pants with excitement as I AM IN MIDDLE EARTH!

Is there a way of paying to live in a Hobbit hole?

For my first idea, The March Of The Ents ride. Ride users are carried 2 at a time by an army of ents to witness first-hand the flooding of Isengard.

Okay, it's half two in the morning here so I am now going to bed to dream about this. Wish me inspired dreaming...

 

[silver wolf009]

Heh I would pay. And i know about 2 other people who would pay to.

 

[KeyMaster45]

Attendees are required to walk for 3 hours before dumping their change in a mock volcano.

/Clerks2

^Filled with win.

A theme park, no. bulldozing some of the orlando landscape to add it as another wing to the isles of adventure, hellz yes but only if there is indeed a mock Mt. Doom for us toss change into :3

 

[PiercisionBass]

As a resident of the Greater Orlando area, I for one would welcome our new Numenorean overlords.

 

[The Root Beer Guy]

If you read the rest of the thread, somebody says that they always send out surveys asking about theme parks for a bunch of different franchises. While cool idea, it's highly unlikely.

 

[Ih8pkmn]

Well, if they wanted people to dress up as elves for a living, they could simply lurk around ComicCon or any other geek convention for a few days.

 

[Gaderael]

I'm torn on this. One the one hand, there's a good chance of it cheapening the world that Tolkien created for the sole purpose of cashing in on the Property. On the other hand, Sweet Sufferin' Nienna! I want to visit Middle Earth so freaking bad. I try to read LOTR once a year (Thanks to Christopher Lee saying that he does so in the Extended Editions), and I'm in the middle of reading The Silmarillion again. Tolkien made the most believable reality outside of our own that I've ever read. To get to see it come to life beyond the films, and to be smack in the middle of it, would be a freaking dream.

Quick, someone ask Manwe to speak with Iluvatar to see if this is a good idea!

 

[Therumancer]

Sadly I doubt they would accept my "Mordor Charge" card from my old copy of "Wizardry: Bane Of The Cosmic Forge".

 

[Blue_vision]

I like this idea.

But could they not do something of a homage and put it in Great Britain or New Zealand or something? I wouldn't like this to be stuck in with all the rest of the theme parks in the Florida and California theme park belts.

 

[Yokai]

Hooray for being the first completely negative commenter. (When I started writing this, at least.)

No. Nononononono. The excessive franchising of Lord of the Rings has gone far enough. They packaged action figures with McDonald's meals, for god's sake. Pretty much everything past the films and a couple of the better games was capitalistic overkill.

Granted, I appreciate their supposed plan to do more than just stick a bunch of Styrofoam castles and animatronic orcs on a flume ride, but this seems like the kind of thing that would kind of destroy the sense of awe and wonder one gets when reading the books or watching the films. I don't want to have to pay money to duck into a miniature, particle-board Minas Tirith with a bunch of tourists to be greeted by some guys in plastic armor. Talk about breaking the fourth wall--and besides, theme parks are never created for any reason other than to be milked for cash. They're never as amazing as advertised. I do hope this doesn't happen.