Walt Disney World Resort has been making headlines lately due to its upcoming major upgrades. The resort’s four parks, EPCOT, Magic Kingdom Park, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom Theme Park, each boast unique attractions that offer guests a variety of experiences.
Over the years, Disney has transformed several of its popular intellectual properties (IPs) into immersive and exciting theme park attractions, including recent additions to fully immerse guests, such as Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, Frozen Ever After, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, and TRON Lightcycle / Run.
In May 2022, EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow) unveiled Cosmic Rewind, the first Marvel Studios attraction to be introduced in Walt Disney World Resort. This accomplishment was made possible because Comcast, the Universal Orlando Resort owner, wields significant authority over character usage theme parks situated to the east of the Mississippi River.
This means that Disney has been unable to use Marvel characters at its Florida theme park, as Universal’s Marvel Super Hero Island has been a part of its Islands of Adventure since 1999.
The land encompasses numerous enjoyable rides and popular characters, such as The Incredible Hulk, Spider-Man, X-Men, Doctor Doom, Captain America, Fantastic Four, among several others. Consequently, these characters are not available for use in Disney’s theme park.
However, during Disney’s recent annual shareholder’s call, the CEO of Disney, Bob Allen Iger, made it clear that he wants to do more with Marvel in the Parks. When questioned regarding the possibility of securing the rights to use Marvel characters as part of an agreement with Comcast over Hulu, Iger said, “We certainly would love to do more with Marvel in our Parks, but we will leave it at that.”
Despite rumors that Disney has been planning to secure a deal to use its Marvel characters at Walt Disney World Resort, an agreement with Universal seems to be far from close at the moment.
Some have suggested that Disney might hold forth Universal’s rights to use The Simpsons in exchange for Marvel, but others have speculated that Comcast may be in a position to purchase the DC Universe and Warner Bros in a few years, potentially buying out the rights from Six Flags.
While this approach appears to be reasonable from both parties, we cannot expect Universal Orlando to relinquish these privileges rapidly, particularly to its rivals, without substantial reimbursement.
At this point, it remains to be seen whether Disney will be able to secure the rights to use Marvel characters at its theme park located at Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida. However, as the popularity of the Marvel Cinematic Universe continues to grow, it’s likely that Disney will continue to push for a deal that would allow it to bring its iconic superheroes to Walt Disney World Resort.
Do you want to know more about the exciting attractions at Walt Disney World Resort, even without Marvel characters? Please let us know!
While the possibility of securing the rights to use Marvel characters remains uncertain, in the meantime, guests will have to indulge in other exciting attractions that Disney has to offer.
