As far as demolishing epcot: you are all crazy. This is the only Park other than Disneyland in Anaheim that walt actually designed. The walt disney company will never get rid of this for that reason alone. And in no way will Marvel fit in to the “Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow” (EPCOT) when Disney’s Hollywood Studios is right next door. Remember, Disney is all about theming. That’s what sets their resorts and parks aside from the “competition” if any such company exists.

But they sure aren’t doing much with the properties. That “Batman: The Ride” has been there since Batman Returns came out almost 20 years ago, and the “Dark Knight Coaster” is a pretty lame ride, sad to say. “Superman: The Ride” is pretty fun, but that’s been there for awhile too. Seems to me they could come up with better stuff, modernize a bit. Even the DC merchandise was pretty bad. They have a lot of it, but I see much better stuff elsewhere.

I know Universal’s going to have a Harry Potter theme park soon. I’m surprised Six Flags didn’t snag that for themselves, given their relationship with WB.

The back half, the internation section, could use some work. It bored me as a kid, and I thought I’d appreciate it more as an adult, but it didn’t. Lots of nice shops and restaurants, but it’s all damned pricey. And only one ride: the Maelstrom (I think?), which is easily the most boring, stupid ride in the whole park. Then when you leave that non-ride they show some lousy film about Norway that has to be at least 25 years old. It’s incredibly lame.

Still, I don’t see them dropping that back half of the place. All those shops and eateries probably make a ton of money (when they’re open at night, I understand people like to go drinking “around the world”). Plus I’m sure they see it as adding a bit of “culture” to the place. It’s a nice idea, there’s just not much to it. I did like the Japanese drummers though, and that cool display hall featuring old, tin Japanese toys. I guess they have concerts throughout the year there too. I was surprised at some of the biggish names they get.

I still think the Hollywood Studios theme park seems the most logical place for Marvel at WDW. But I don’t think there will be much until the contract with Universal expires.

Most likely not, as DC already has its characters associated with Six Flags chain as part of an overall agreement with Warner Brothers. Six Flags parks feature many DC character rides, as well as extensive use of Hanna-Barbera and classic WB characters. (WB owns DC and Hanna-Barbera.)

The Marvel characters are just a facade for the rides. Kings Island was owned by Paramamount a few years back, and their rides all had Paramount connections, “Top Gun,” etc. When Paramount sold the park, they took down the old signage, put up new signage, and they were back in business.

I’d be very surprised if the licensing agreement were renewed, but I don’t think Universal will waste any time or tears before they set up new theming or a new licensing agreement… maybe with DC.

Here’s what I see happening:

Disney will continue to let Universal keep the rides they currently have and allow to upgrade/refurbish them accordingly, but not develop any new rides with major characters (eg. Universal won’t be able to create a ride to coincide with the upcoming Captain America movie)

Or, Disney may allow Universal to develop new rides using secondary characters only (eg “Dr Strange’s House of Horrors”)

Disney will create their own theme park rides (maybe finally get ride of Epcot) using every character at their disposal, but the rides will be significantly different so that visitors can benefit from two different Spider-man rides