The Lost Continent has had a lot of conversation recently since the closure of Posideons Fury. While several people have suggested ideas such as Middle Earth or Zelda themed lands, these strike me as odd. Why would you build a high fantasy, magic, castles-and-dragons type theme Park land right next to The Wizarding World? Out of these two, I would prefer Middle Earth because it fits with IOA's original theme of literature, but Islands of adventure relies on contrast. The design philosophy of the lagoon and the iconography surrounding it demonstrate this Instead, I'll propose three ideas using the Ideally-Hopefully-Realistically format.
Ideally, we would see a new and unlicensed land that focuses on literature. Putting a science fiction land inspired by Jules Verne and H. G. Wells that uses a steampunk aesthetic would contrast and compliment the other lands.
Hopefully, we could see a Wizarding World expansion. This land could fit a small ride and maybe a sit-down show into the Lost Continent, as the current WW is a little small.
Realistically, we would see a new land that features some flat rides based off of a Universal movie. If I had a say in this, the movie would be one based off of a book, but an apocalypse or monster movie, like Godzilla, would perform well as a land.
In conclusion, I think that Middle Earth and Hyrule are bad ideas that could have good execution, but as long as the replacement is book-focused, I think I'll be alright.
Russell is on point with his comments. If Comcast adds anything to Lost Continent (or adds anything substantial to any part of the existing parks, it wouldn't welcome its first guests until 2027.
While I agree with Russel on LoTR, I can't say I see eye to eye when you say that Disney and Six Flags have just "taken" Verne and Steampunk aesthetics. While I do realize using Jules Verne's work would be treading a bit too far into Disney's territory, creating an E-ticket based off of Wells' around the world in eighty days would fit into a theme Park land quite nicely. Also, assuming you're mostly talking about Six Flags Quiddiya's upcoming steampunk area, I think if universal went in a more "Gearpunk" or retro vibe, it would work as six flags Quiddiya is in, well, Quiddiya and wouldn't be too close to universal studios.
VF: "... creating an E-ticket based off of Wells' around the world in eighty days would fit into a theme Park land quite nicely."
Me: Yeah, they could call it "World Showcase," or something.
I'd like to offer up The Chronicles of Riddick as a possible replacement for The Lost Continent.
It's a franchise that lends itself to both rides and shows. Would this be too dark for IOA ?
Rob P. - I'm not sure that Comcast is itching to build a theme park land around a 20-year old forgotten movie franchise where the highest grossing installment barely grossed over $100 million worldwide. In comparison, "The Legend of Zelda" franchise has sold over 164 million UNITS worldwide.
Velocicoasterfan - You realize Six Flags has steampunk-themed attractions/lands at a number of their parks around the country. SFFT, SFMM, SFA, and SFoG all have areas of their parks themed with the aesthetic. Again, I think Universal would do an incredible job with a steampunk-themed land (just look at Toothsome), but UC is focused on creating attractions and lands themed to existing IP.
Verne is interesting, but those works just haven't been in the public consciousness recently, so tapping those IPs would be even riskier than what Universal is taking with their Monsters IP at Epic. The most recent Verne IP to hit the big screen was Journey 2 Mysterious Island with The Rock, which released way back in 2012. Also, Verne IPs are all in the public domain, so if Universal were to tap any of these works, there would be little protection from other parks opening similar attractions/lands.
@Rob - I really love the Riddick trilogy, but the most recent movie was way back in 2013 (Twohy has teased a 4th film, though nothing is confirmed in development). Also, the IP feels far more like an HHN IP than a full-time theme park land.
Don't get me wrong, Universal absolutely needs to do something with Lost Continent, and has areas of both legacy parks that could use refreshing (Fear Factor, RRR, Toon Lagoon, and the inevitable day when they need to retheme Marvel Super Hero Island), but I think all of their energy and resources are focused on making Epic a success.
Yeah! Comcast should buy licensing rights to Zelda and then spend hundreds of millions more constructing attractions based on a Japanese video game (kind of like Nintendo) that will help attract a demographic that they've already locked down!
Plus: More Dragons! Brilliant!
@TH - I believe Universal's license with Nintendo already includes Zelda (and Pokemon, which has been rumored to replace Springfield when UC's current license for The Simpsons expires), so it would just be a matter of determining the royalty structure if/when other Nintendo IPs were applied into American theme parks.
@Russel Meyer I realize now the amount of steampunk rides that six flags has, as I'm more acquainted with Florida theme parks. I still think Universal could do a better job, however. I know that universal probably won't build a land based off of H. G. Wells, but it's fun to conceptualize one.
I did want to address your point on the fact that Lost Continent doesn't have a lot of space, which is true, so trying to build a whole new land is tough. A WWoHP expansion could be the move on Universal's part.
I'd prefer an original one too and a steampunk idea would be fun. Just seems a waste of fun space leaving it as is.
By the way, if Comcast isn't gonna build something big at their old UO parks, they should read Sarah's trip review ("First Timers Trip Report to UO [that you helped with])" and upgrade their existing carny rides.
For me, the Zelda rumors seem the most plausible, and I strongly believe that if the costs to finish Epic hadn't increased so significantly post-Pandemic, we'd probably be seeing some work being done in the Lost Continent already to transform the Lost Continent into something. I feel Zelda makes the most sense, because Universal has the theme park rights to Nintendo and you could reskin Lost Continent to fit parts of the Zelda universe relatively easily and economically.
I refuse to believe any rumor or expectation that ANY theme park operator has the IP rights to LOTR until there is a public announcement. Until Universal (or some other theme park company) comes out and announces that they have the rights to the IP, it's foolish to even consider that LOTR will ever show up in a theme park. Let's face it, if Universal had any expectation of getting the rights to LOTR, they would have put it into Epic Universe - it's very possible that the expansion portal built into Epic's original design, and will be built at a later time, but if Universal ever does get LOTR, I'm pretty convinced that it would be park of Epic, and not IOA (or USF).
Let's remember that Lost Continent as it stands now is a pretty small area. It was much larger before Hogsmeade came to be, but what remains after WWoHP could not accommodate anything more than a single major attraction and perhaps a smaller attraction, which is why even if Universal were to get the LOTR rights, they wouldn't put it there. While Zelda makes the most sense, there is always a possibility that another expansion of the WWoHP is plausible, but with Ministry of Magic opening at Epic next year, I doubt Universal would do another expansion so quickly.
I think Universal could do an amazing job with a steampunk or Verne-esque land, but it would almost certainly feel cliched and/or derivative given steampunk is already being used at Six Flags, and Verne was used at Disney.