Warhammer-themed amusement park possible?

[tangoalphatwo]

So, I was in Cali for something else, and decided to go to Disney Land with the fam while we were here. Have to say, as much :cuss: as I give Disney, their Star Wars area was pretty cool. But as much as I like Star Wars, I am just drawn towards the 40K world so much more. My son and I kept joking about Storm Troopers vs Space Marines, Jedi vs Space Marines, Librarians vs Jedi, etc. but damn, if the cantina and the whole atmosphere wasn’t awesome!

That got me thinking. Games Workshop would kill it if they had a small Disney like place. They’re big enough, no? Obviously it would be smaller than Disney, but tell me you idiots wouldn’t be as excited as I would be to go spend a day at a Disney like park devoted to all things Warhammer. I totally would!

I’ve never been to Warhammer World. But I don’t think it’s the same. At some point, GW would be big enough to open their own thing. Right? Just a thought I had. What day you frater?

[Grotsmasha]

You know those bike racing arcade games, where you sit on a bike-like contraption? I SO want one of those on a SM bike, and not racing either....

[Redcomet]

GW is a big company yes, but building a Land is a gigantic investment. And I honestly don’t think their IP is strong enough to attract enough “normies” 

[tangoalphatwo]

16 minutes ago, Redcomet said:

GW is a big company yes, but building a Land is a gigantic investment. And I honestly don’t think their IP is strong enough to attract enough “normies” 

*Yet

[Halandaar]

41 minutes ago, tangoalphatwo said:

Obviously it would be smaller than Disney, but tell me you idiots wouldn’t be as excited as I would be to go spend a day at a Disney like park devoted to all things Warhammer. I totally would!

Sure we would, but you got to remember that our hobby is still extremely niche and although the audience feels big compared to how it used to (and has grown thanks to the popularity of various video games), it is still absolutely dwarfed by Disney which has a massive global audience built over what is now probably better described as generations, rather than decades. They have mass-market appeal with regular new content being beamed directly into people's homes in a way GW can only dream of achieving, not to mention an absolute fortune they can afford to spend to bring projects like Galaxy's Edge to life.

Even a small theme park is a multi-million pound investment and even if they could get loans or investors to help with the costs of doing it, I'm not convinced at all the GW has the audience to be able to justify it, nor the broader brand awareness to bring in non-fans in significant numbers. The only way something like this would ever happen is if Disney itself picked up the IP for movies, and that is a prospect that terrifies me to be honest.

 

[Magos Takatus]

1 hour ago, Grotsmasha said:

You know those bike racing arcade games, where you sit on a bike-like contraption? I SO want one of those on a SM bike, and not racing either....

Stuff like that would be absolutely great, but the days of Hang On and similar games in the arcades seen to be well and truly over. Sega, who was once a titan in the arcade space have sold up their arcades because of the overall trend in recent years and also the impact of Covid. I have to consider that it's not impossible to see thing like that again. When I was a child the idea of a Warhammer 40k animated series or action figures or computer game franchises seemed like a fanciful dream but that's starting to come to fruition.

As for your arcade game idea, I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. Who knows, maybe one day. 

[twiglets]

Galaxy's edge is pretty cool, and it isn't a full theme park so it is at least a little reasonable. But unfortunately I think it would still be well beyond GW's wallet and audience size currently.

But there is something more reasonable that could be done as a first step toward an eventual goal like that imo.

 

I wouldn't aim for something like Galaxy's edge. I would aim for something more like the Harry Potter Studio Tour in London, or the Game of Thrones studio tour in northern Ireland.

The main things these require are just life-size assets to display and a few cool indoor environments to walk through. Basically Warhammer World but with lots of big stuff.

The assets for this idea would come from the potential Warhammer TV shows like Eisenhorn in the same way sets and clothing were taken from harry potter and game of thrones for their tours. 

Once the Eisenhorn tv show is done with a set just pick the entire thing up and stick it in warhammer world. Boom. You have an instant attraction. Once they are done with the costumes, take them and put them on display. Put it in the contract with the studio hired to make the shows that GW gets all the sets and costumes once the show is done with them. It would be cool to have a restaurant aboard Tobias Maxilla's void ship's bridge for example.

 

I think this would be a good core beginning of any kind of major real life attraction because it is Infinitely cheaper than something like galaxy's edge. Dioramas and displays are also something they have experience with because of Warhammer World.

 

 

 

Edited July 14, 2022 by twiglets

[phandaal]

2 hours ago, tangoalphatwo said:

*Yet

Hopefully never. Turning 40k into the kind of unrecognizable mush Disney churns out to please "normies" would be a disaster.

Not to mention, whenever something niche becomes popular, bullies tend to come in and drive away the existing nerdy fan base.

[Cheex]

There's a 40k-themed escape room, is that close enough?

[Domhnall]

As much as it'll be a fantasy/pipe dream, this would be awesome. 

I was at Disney World past couple weeks in Orlando, and the Star Wars section there was amazing. Also got the chance to go on the new Guardians of the galaxy ride, which I could very easily imagine a similar one based on an escape through the warp type theme... maybe after the 2033 Disney take over they might do that 

[twiglets]

54 minutes ago, Domhnall said:

As much as it'll be a fantasy/pipe dream, this would be awesome. 

I was at Disney World past couple weeks in Orlando, and the Star Wars section there was amazing. Also got the chance to go on the new Guardians of the galaxy ride, which I could very easily imagine a similar one based on an escape through the warp type theme... maybe after the 2033 Disney take over they might do that 

Ah man, I hope they never get bought out by Disney or any faceless mega conglomerate, that would be terrible. 

Maybe the answer is just to license the IP out to a theme park developer lol.

Edited July 14, 2022 by twiglets

[RWJP]

8 hours ago, tangoalphatwo said:

They’re big enough, no?

Not really. GW are big in the tabletop wargaming scene, but are tiny in comparison to others.

For example, for their 2020-2021 Financial Year, GW's operating profit was roughly £150 million or approximately $177 million. Hasbro, who own D&D and Magic: The Gathering reported an operating profit of $763 million for the same period. Disney reported $3 Billion in Operating Profit despite experiencing an over 250% drop in profits from 2020!

People massively overestimate the size of GW due to their incredibly high share price.

[Remain_Indoors]

The expense of the mini-theme park isnt worth the revenue it would generate. Actual theme parks here in the UK are struggling as it is.

I'm also not sure the subject matter would appeal to enough people outside of the hobby, i can't see many non-hobbyist parents wanting to take their kids to the Corpse-Starch Cafe, or to ride the Planetary Genocide Coaster on Exterminatus hill.

[Emperor Ming]

Warhammer land

I would want actual servitors

 

[Inquisitor_Lensoven]

9 hours ago, tangoalphatwo said:

So, I was in Cali for something else, and decided to go to Disney Land with the fam while we were here. Have to say, as much as I give Disney, their Star Wars area was pretty cool. But as much as I like Star Wars, I am just drawn towards the 40K world so much more. My son and I kept joking about Storm Troopers vs Space Marines, Jedi vs Space Marines, Librarians vs Jedi, etc. but damn, if the cantina and the whole atmosphere wasn’t awesome!

That got me thinking. Games Workshop would kill it if they had a small Disney like place. They’re big enough, no? Obviously it would be smaller than Disney, but tell me you idiots wouldn’t be as excited as I would be to go spend a day at a Disney like park devoted to all things Warhammer. I totally would!

I’ve never been to Warhammer World. But I don’t think it’s the same. At some point, GW would be big enough to open their own thing. Right? Just a thought I had. What day you frater?

Unfortunately GW doesn’t have that same recognition as Star Wars.

most people have seen Star Wars to the point it’s weird for some one to say they haven’t, and even those weirdos have heard of it.

 

im still surprised when a I meet someone new and they’re aware of any GW property, so investing in something like that probably wouldn’t be a good outcome for them, and deciding where to put it would be another question. Like is the UK the right place for it? Some where else in Europe? America?

 

 

[Domhnall]

On 7/14/2022 at 5:04 PM, Remain_Indoors said:

The expense of the mini-theme park isnt worth the revenue it would generate. Actual theme parks here in the UK are struggling as it is.

I'm also not sure the subject matter would appeal to enough people outside of the hobby, i can't see many non-hobbyist parents wanting to take their kids to the Corpse-Starch Cafe, or to ride the Planetary Genocide Coaster on Exterminatus hill.

Yeah, which makes me think of LegoLand in Florida as well (went there on the recent holiday as well), and although it's only 10 years old, the place was looking a bit less than tip top condition! Considering they were charging about as much as Disney (and it's Lego!), a lot of the stuff was faded, paint worn etc. Not saying it was awful or anything, had a good day, but if somebody as big as Lego "seems" to be struggling with the upkeep, there would be no chance of GW even attempting this. 

A small indoor 'experience' thing would be better suited. Or Imperial Guard Laser tag (with real Lasguns ) level of "attraction". 

[MegaVolt87]

They should move warhammer world to a bigger site and make it a really premium experience. Instead of selling several hundred tickets to something like the HH release event, they can sell several thousand because they have a big facility. 

[Brother Tyler]

Note that I changed the topic title to better reflect the actual purpose of the discussion.

[sarabando]

you must be this tall to ride the drop pods brother. 

[Bryan Blaire]

3 minutes ago, sarabando said:

you must be this tall to ride the drop pods brother. 

LOL - but not taller than this tall, or you also can’t ride, regardless of armor capabilities…

[sbarnby71]

Personally I'd love to see something like this, but as others have said, it's the cost.  Even if you exclude the cost of developing/building some rides (don't forget the Star Wars section in Disney Land is just a section, not the whole) imagine the cost of decking out the 40k personnel at the attraction and making them looks AMAZING and get the right scale, Disney can just put a lady in a dress and you have a Disney Princess, put someone in a Mickey fluffy suit, job done, making a handful of Space marines in armour that does not run or dissolve when it rains would be a lot more expensive.  Yeah there are some ace cosplays out there, but they won't stand up to the rain.

Imagine meeting a full height Space Marine only to watch him trip over his "Primaris Tactial Rock", end up on his back and not be able to get back up like a turtle (actually, that would be worth the entrance fee alone to see!).

Edited July 21, 2022 by sbarnby71

[twiglets]

So more or less it's unlikely to happen as Warhammer is currently, it's not well known enough of an IP to attract a sustainable enough number of guests, and GW isn't that rich of a company.

I guess the first step toward that would be growing the IP into something much bigger then. Which probably comes from:

A. The next slew of 40k games being incredible and really popular. (It looks like they will be very good a least.)

B. A popular cinematic universe with a move or tv show that is very popular. The very first step for this is Eisenhorn being a big success.

 

Better hope things go incredibly for GW's ventures for the rest of the decade then.

 

 

[Captain Idaho]

GW is gearing towards their products being an IP heavy weight so we might see a single ride in Disney one day, for example. They're not likely to do it themselves as miniatures just isn't that profitable for the cost required. Plus it is fairly niche still.

I've had more than a few dates with girls who haven't a clue what warhammer is, so it's not high profile enough.

Expect GW to expand their media presence through other avenues though. Like D&D, they'll be an IP and games producer one day, with miniatures being a collectors thing. So on that basis they'll be likely to do deals with bigger players in time. (Especially when 3D printers are everywhere) that'll be when we see an exhibit at Disney land or Thorpe Park, or a Laser Quest or Virtual Reality experience somewhere.

[Brother Nathan]

a few over lappng thoughts from someone in northern Ireland who did some extra work on game of thrones and a few other tv shows that are filmed here. tie ins are brilliant. iv worked on most of the thrones sets built her and  a problem is sets made to look good are also made cheap. ie the winterfell throne room the stonework is actually painted plaster... a few hundred extras damaged it daily so most of the sets had to be rebuilt for thousands of public viewings. last i was n the exterior winterfell before it burned down it was literally rotting and one extra fell through one of the walkways... castle black ws left to rot and ruin years ago. the kings landing which was one  the est designed still hasnt been converted for public use/ rental. that one cost millions. it is on prime building ground in Belfast's titanic quarter and is a wanted site for filming etc as is beside the titanic studios which is generlly booked out as its probably the largest film studio in Europe. sets people would kill to et on get broken up and destroyed. and thats a tv show with a multi million per episode budget. that can reuse existing backgrounds and such. but one can hope. having seen what good got has done in my country

now as a hobbiest whos been nto 40k since i was 11ish what would i think can pass as feasible and work with their existing models? well ive never been but from what ive seen of and know of the likes of warhammer world. theyd need space to do enough without impacting on their day to day buisness and be able to expand if successful. obv theyd want to expand consumer base and the pul to get people to want to repeat return etc. the likes of bugmans bar sounds like its great and effective but would a 40k version of some from necromundia scummy divebar that could be used as a cantina sort of thing in some form of show. a smart thing would be to have a tv show where the main characters are not marines as less cgi etc but also more usable sets and characters if they manage to build to a museum or attraction(i think theme park s less of the direction to go) a display area of costumes in cases of characters from the show+weapons and visual displays and breakdowns like they do in the books, all done to insta grammable standards. make it something that anyone not nto 40k will see pics and think that looks cool. tie in with larp groups and have themed days. staff n linked in clothing (not nessiarily full powerarmour, save that for events) miniatures displays are great and should have a definite space but biger stuff will attract in a different way. i think gw are seeing that in how they are branching out with product they are selling people do want to stand next to what a full size marine should look like. if every so often that statue for eg changed chapter/ they built  the primarch statue scene  blocked off area with custodian statues to represent the golden throne room. had servitor like drones buzzing around etc... theres certainly even within their current space more to be done to make he likes of warhammer world a place that fns want to go see and rom around even if ey cant bring their army for a game, it would need t be a fairly large investment to bring it from having additional attractions to a theme park equivalent and how much it would need to charge to do so would likely be counter intuitive but there are ways to fil the gap and build that they simply havent. how many pretty b video games have they released that haven't been capitalised on bringing people to their sites? dawn of war, firewarrior, spacemarine...  

 

also for tie in now im not sure on warhammer plus content but surely theyre should be more free content o talk troughs of new content that could be done on their example sets and such to increase the questions of where is that is. i would lok at how deadpool bonus clips are done and do skits using such. gw has a good sense of humour but often forgets it. i think many would understand ther protection of their ip if they aggressively were actually usng such in a way they would hope to go viral. an inquisitor questioning their captured prey as a way to briefly explain some of the races could be fun as an example. 

 

what other sets could be made to work? what tie ins should be done? shuld not most of ti be doen to look dystopian? 40k toilets etc... ?

[Schurge]

Warhammer will have died for me long before it gets big enough for a theme park. I don't get the desire for it to get so big or really "get" theme parks.

I am surprised there are no Warhammer LARP "parks". It's definitely big enough for that (more obscure or limited IPs have them). Maybe it is because Warhammer is mostly 40k and 40k is mostly Space Marines.