Attila the Professor said:
As I said above, the rumor isn't a sure thing, but in any event, Disney has 11 other parks worldwide to which this trademark might apply. (And I don't know trademark law, so I don't know what a new application would even begin to indicate. Can you, or anyone else, fill us in?)
Before The Mouse wrapped its tentacles around Lucasfilm, Vader & Company were under (at least) three separate trademarks & copyrights in the parks. Lucasfilm held the original trademark obviously; a second general one applied to The Walt Disney Company's rental of the characters; and the third one governed their usage and appearances within the various Disney Parks. I suspect that this refiling was a streamlining (see: consolidation) of the previous trademarks.*
* - There are state level and Federally recognized trademarks and it's always possible that Dr. Jones' likeness requires multiple trademarks at both levels.
It would be wishful thinking to suggest a new attraction could be borne from this regulatory filing.
That said, the stunt show will close. I just don't think it will be next January. 2016 perhaps, but not next year. The new Star Wars Land(s) were supposed to be announced early this year, but all spending at the parks has been frozen due to massive cost overruns in Orlando & Shanghai.
Disney has spent a billion bucks developing and attempting to implement the new whiz bang MyMagic + system*. While the backbone of the system is sound (warehouses use a version with RFID chips for inventory controls), Disney has been unable to adequately scale it. It was supposed to be tested out in Orlando, but at last check they have only managed to it to work with the couple hundred families that stay at the Disneyworld Hotel. Disney is obviously heavily invested in
the success of the system, and it's probably going to need another significant capital investment to get it to level Disney wants.
* - If successful it's supposed to make all the Parks essentially ticketless. The turnstiles in the entry plazas would be gone; Disney would track your movements within in the park; and all transactions would eventually become cashless. All of it tied to your
Magic Band (and the credit card on file).
Iger was reportedly (and rightfully) apoplectic before ordering all projects halted save for Shanghai where they're still bullish.
Disney has already pumped $5-billion into Shanghai Disneyland, but construction stoppages due to the horrendous air pollution have cost (obviously) extra money for idle crews, but more importantly have pushed the opening into sometime in 2016. Top it off with questionable workmanship from the local contractors, the mountains of red tape the Party has layered on top of the current mountain, and the extra $800-million they're plowing into the new park is quite understandable. There's going to be one heck of a book to come out of all of this.
The financial implications are tremendous. Not only is MyMagic + potentially unreplicable at Anaheim (different demographics), but the cost overrun is going to
cost Disney money by not being able to open the first phase of Star Wars Land in conjunction with the new movie.
Anyone else have any news?
wdwnt.com
