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Star Wars in Cedar Fair Parks


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Before you guys look at me all bizarre and such, isn't there a slight possibility that Cedar Fair could include Star Wars in their parks?

Since Cedar Fair has a licensing deal with EA (Mass Effect and Plants vs Zombies), and EA (Dice) made Star Wars Battlefront. Could Cedar Fair make a Star Wars Battlefront themed dark ride?

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In theory, they could... If Disney granted them the rights (at insane expense) and allowed them to build attractions with the license.

 

That being said, it won't happen. Disney will hold those rights tight and use them to the fullest because that IP is a HUGE draw for potential and repeat guests, and they'd much rather direct that kind of attention on properties they own and operate rather than licensing the property and earning a small chunk of revenue to do so. Onsite guests bring revenue from resort stays, food & beverage, merchandise and ticket admission, most of which Disney wouldn't get anywhere close to if they simply licensed the rights.

 

You can reference Marvel Superhero Island at Islands of Adventure as a perfect example of why Disney wouldn't allow such a valuable franchise to be farmed out to another company... Marvel wasn't what it was today when the comic company signed an agreement giving Universal Studios theme park rights to the major characters (any characters represented in Marvel Superhero Island in any way are off limits in all capacities) East of the Mississippi. Creative approval of the use of these characters is given to Marvel, but Universal has those rights in perpetuity as long as they continue to pay fair value (as determined by an intermediary, unbiased third party) and thus Disney has to skirt around the use of any Marvel properties in the Florida parks (which is why, save for a few movie previews, monorail wraps and the one-time appearance of Guardians of the Galaxy characters for the Villains Unleashed event, there has been no major Marvel movement at the Walt Disney World Resort). If Marvel knew then that it would become the major player (under the Walt Disney Company) that it is today, it wouldn't likely have shared the rights with Universal, or at least would have signed a very different agreement that allowed for far more control on East of the Mississippi.

 

IP agreements like this potentially block the IP owner from doing with their properties what they wish to do. Hindering their ability to fully control Star Wars would be a highly counterintuitive decision that Disney simply would NEVER do. Star Wars has international appeal, so it is safe to say that this isn't something Disney would consider sharing with an international park in a region they themselves would never build a resort in (like with IMG Worlds of Adventure in Dubai).

Edited by jedimaster1227
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Thank you for the responses, It was simply a question, did not mean it had to be true. Didn't mean to offend anyone, or think i'm an idiot for asking this. I knew Disney had licensing to Star Wars, but since EA also had licensing I was a bit confused as I don't really go deep into that kind of stuff.

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Meanwhile, hilariously, LucasArts has a licensing agreement with Lego that runs until at least 2022 and clearly seems to offer them the ability to construct Lego Star Wars attractions based on the fact that they already exist (see also: Star Wars Minilands in Florida, Windsor, and California).

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^I agree. There's a lot of history behind franchise/IP licensing in theme parks and it is certainly not out of the question that Disney would share the rights (for a cost) of one of their lower end franchises to earn a little extra money... It just isn't likely to happen because if it is in any way desired by the market, Disney is likely already employing the brand in its own parks or planning to...

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^I agree. There's a lot of history behind franchise/IP licensing in theme parks and it is certainly not out of the question that Disney would share the rights (for a cost) of one of their lower end franchises to earn a little extra money... It just isn't likely to happen because if it is in any way desired by the market, Disney is likely already employing the brand in its own parks or planning to...

 

Man, it's crazy to imagine a company big enough where STAR WARS would be one of their "lower end" franchises, but yea, I guess you're right.

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Thank you for the responses, It was simply a question, did not mean it had to be true. Didn't mean to offend anyone, or think i'm an idiot for asking this. I knew Disney had licensing to Star Wars, but since EA also had licensing I was a bit confused as I don't really go deep into that kind of stuff.

 

Disney doesn't have licensing to Star Wars. But that's because Disney OWNS Star Wars. They licensed the video game rights to EA when Disney decided they didn't want to utilize their own LucasArts division, which was shut down as a video game designer/publisher (it still exists, but in a different capacity).

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^^I wasn't implying that Star Wars is a lower end franchise (it has been recently suggested that it is the highest profile IP in the portfolio)... Rather that if someone really wanted to say, invest in John Carter or Mars Needs Moms (for example) and Disney saw no value for those IPs in their own properties, they might consider a licensing agreement for the guaranteed kickback they'd receive consistently as a part of the agreement...

 

Again my point was not that Disney ever would do something like this, even for a lower end franchise--the question that was posed by the original poster at the beginning of this thread was could Disney allow this to happen. They absolutely could... They almost definitely won't any time soon.

Edited by jedimaster1227
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