Nope. Personally, LOTR does nothing for me. If Universal added that property it would just represent something I could skip and one less day to spend there.
@@flixguy440 Only curious: if that is so, why do you follow the channel? All are welcome of course. Maybe you are interested in LOTR even though currently it does nothing for you.
They can't just make 1 park, there needs to be several like the harry potter ones. We need Minas Tirith, The mines of Moria, the tower of Isengard, Helms deep, and of course, Mordor, just imagine a force perspective structure of mount doom and the eye of Sauron looking huge. Even a land having the lake town and Erebor would be amazing.
I have had an idea for a ride for some time! "Seige of Erebor" The land is mostly based on the city of Dale before Smaug attacks. The entrance of the ride is the gates of Erebor with some foreshortening of the lonely mountain. The queue is themed to the halls of Erebor. The pre-show is a big screen showing the outer gate of Erebor with Thorin and Balin welcoming us. From behind, Smaug begins his assault on the mountain. We are told to evacuate but our path is cut off. This is where we board the ride. It's a mine cart roller coaster with huge themed rooms. The centerpiece being the treasure hoard of Thror with a giant Smaug animatronic who blows fire at the guests. Thorin and Co try to assist in our escape. The finale is another huge Smaug animatronic breaking through the floor and we escape at the last second. I think that would be amazing.
The very strong rumour in the theme park industry is that Universal wants to bring LOTR to the new theme park they have just recently revealed they are pursuing in the UK, rather than Epic Universe. It may well come to other places after that, but they seem to want it to be the centrepiece of that wholly new park (no doubt alongside Potter and some other properties). Supposedly they don’t want any replicated lands there at first, to avoid hurting the very lucrative trade in people visiting the US parks from Europe.
This would be epic, need a mines through Moria ride, Some kind of Eagle ride, a water ride maybe something with the Watcher in the water.. maybe a Rivendell food court etc a Lothlorien tree house or something along those lines
One idea for a great ride would be a Mount Doom ride. Having orcs jump out at you, seeing Minas Morgul, Sauron. My goodness this needs to happen. And of course a place to eat in the park would be the prancing pony. Take my money NOW!!!!
Considering Universal's top notch immersion with their 3D rides, and if a park ever does come to fruition- a Ride of the Rohirrim attraction would be hard to beat.
I can imagine a Flight of the Eagles ride, similar to Disney's Soarin' that takes riders from the Aerie in the Misty Mountains, over Mirkwood to Orthanc then on to Mordor and Mt Doom!
Would love a Hobbit/LOTR theme park but I would rather it be it's own thing rather than a land in one. I think the Hobbits lends itself to actual rides better than LOTR. I would adore a couple stage shows in Hobbiton and Rivendell where costumed singers perform songs from the books. Also, FIREWORKS OVER THE PARTY TREE!!!
I’m still rather dubious about the notion of a LOTR theme park. I just feel like the Universal Theme parks, which have very narrow spaces full of people and big flashy in your face aesthetics that are incredibly unique but also very overstimulating, wouldn’t really fit well with the overall vibe of Lord of The Rings. I’d love to see a recreation of the Prancing Pony though.
If they do a park (and I hope it happens; it'd be a lot cheaper than going to New Zealand to see Hobbiton!), I think it'd be smart to base any rides around the biggest, most exciting moments of the series. A few that I'd love to see are: 1. Escaping Erebor: The riders go into Erebor with Bilbo and the dwarves, only to be discovered by Smaug, forcing them to escape through the city and its mines as fast as possible while Smaug gives chase, eventually ending up in Laketown, where they have to go around buildings set ablaze before seeing Smaug get shot down, and subsequently escaping the city as it's destroyed by his falling body. 2. Escaping through Moria with Gandalf and the Fellowship: Riders go with the Fellowship through Moria, and then end up having to flee with them... but instead of escaping through the eastern gate, we fall with Gandalf into the chasm, follow him through the Roots of the mountains (giving WETA a chance to do the slimy balrog that was cut from The Two Towers), then up the Endless Stair, and finally watching Gandalf slay the demon atop Zirakzigil 3. Destroying the One Ring: The riders are with Sam and Frodo going up Mt. Doom, but Sauron has seen them and dispatched all manner of orcs, trolls, and other monsters to stop them. The riders, Frodo, and Sam have to take side-tunnels through Mt. Doom, constantly being chased and finally reach Sammath Naur, where Sauron himself comes to take the ring as the tram teeters on the very edge of the platform... and then the ring falls in, destroying Sauron, and leaving everyone to escape before the volcano collapses.
I was thinking of something similar as a minecart like ride for either Moria or Erebor. A water ride similar called Bilbo's Barrel wide is good concept I can think of.
Apparently Universal in Orlando just bought around 1,300 more acres. I’m crossing my fingers that Lord of the Rings will be one of the lands. Besides the obvious lands like Rivendell or Hobbiton, can you imagine how cool a dark ride based on the Mines of Moriah or through Mordor would be? They did Harry Potter so well. If they were to have an LOTR land I know they’d do it right and I’d absolutely go back!!!
All four Epic lands will be amazing but I would be most excited for this franchise. Not a Harry Potter fan but loved the rides. Can't imagine how amazing a LOTR dark ride they could make.
You’re overlooking one little thing: the Tolkien family has to approve of everything Middle-Earth. They barely approved the movies, and I think the idea of them approving a Lord of the Rings theme park, as killer and awesome as it sounds, is just impossible. And if Tolkien himself was alive, the odds of him approving a Lord of the Rings theme park would be 999,999,999,999,999.99 to 1. It’s impossible.
Actually, Middle-earth Enterprises owns Movie and Theme Park rights. The estate didn’t have to approve the movies for them to be made as those rights were sold by Tolkien decades ago
This is the first I've heard of a Middle Earth theme park. Very interesting. To me, the Shire would be too uneventful to be worth including tons of. Green Dragon, sure, that's great and an easy choice. I also liked the fireworks idea with the dragon. But aside from that, you probably want more action or at least somewhere that's more than just "a place" as it were. I'd think about places where the films had a lot going on - Moria and the Woodland Realm as you mentioned, but also Helm's Deep, the Lonely Mountain, Amon Hen, Minas Tirith, Laketown, Ithilien, Beorn's cabin, Weathertop, the Black Gate, even Lothlorien and the Anduin river journey. So many ideas for rides here they could probably fill several more 20 acre expansion areas. 😂 I think the barrel ride idea is pretty genius, definitely would like to see that come to life. First idea I had was eagles... maybe around the Mt. Doom climax scenario where you fly to rescue Frodo and Sam. And that doesn't even break out of the movies. There's still all the events prior to the Third Age.
A part of me is like...NOOOOOOOOOO!!! Tolkien would be rolling over in his grave at the thought of a LotR theme park!!! But then...it's easy to justify it as bringing more people into the fan base and propagating Tolkien's works. That's fair...but...his works absolutely have a (if not religious) certainly a spiritual value, and not in the same way as say some loons have had Jedi themed weddings...this is different. I have to come down on the side of...no LotR theme parks please.
Yeah didn't Tolkien explicitly say how much he despised the disney-fication of fairy tales? And isn't a theme park completely antithetical to everything he believed?... On top of that it feels like it would cheapen the beauty of the world of middle earth. The horror and majesty of Mt Doom being reduced to a jump scare roller coaster?.. I mean come on, does nobody care about keeping certain things sacred and mysterious?
Why should it have to take a theme park to make people pick up a book though? It's not like LOTR is some well-kept secret and copies of it are scarce. It's one of the most famous books of the 20th Century and you can find copies in every bookshop in the world.
Wasn't it also the case that Christopher Tolkien hated the Peter Jackson films? Yet they're regarded as beloved films, cinematic masterpieces, and a big reason for the resurgence in interest in the books. I think it's far more about the presentation and its faithfulness to the books that matters. Let's just hope there's no hint of Rings of Power at the theme park!
OMG Matt you lucky Dwarf!!! You finally got turned into one. 🤩 So happy for you. For this video, yes I'd love to see your pitch. The sooner you get it on RUclips, the sooner we can influence the design as well as see how their vision matched yours. 😏 I too hope they don't pull a HP: "buy your own One Ring, then go with Frodo and take it into Mordor. Throw it into the "fire" or take it home and become your own Dark Lord and rule over Middle-earth". I hope not but I can totally see it happening. Great ideas and video!
Man, been my dream since I first saw the fellowship to have a lord of things theme park so much like you, I’ve thought about this a lot. A barrel ride to me would be a must. If only they could some how work in an immersive experience to make it feel like you’re being hunted down by orcs… I think we have the tech now tho. A dark ride through Moria or Goblin town would be another amazing addition. A soaring over Middle Earth ride on the backs of the eagles would be great. Maybe even like you’re going through the battles or different scenes of the movies. As for a true roller coaster, I think you could make it an indoor one in the vain of guardians, but be Nazgûl or ring wraiths chasing down the hobbits. So much potential. This vid made my morning
Imagine if you have the ground level Shire and Rivendell but then you enter the gates of moria which takes you underneath like a giant basement. That land would be Moria.
I have made pitches for fun of Middle-Earth themed lands (and entire theme park resorts, complete with hotels and villas). What's amazing to me is reading comment sections like this one and seeing that everyone has nearly the same ideas of what the rides could be. Nearly every comment suggests a ride where you escape Moria, a flying Eagles ride, a Barrels out of Bond ride, and a Smaug ride. It's funny how we all seem to picture similar things in our minds, and only shows how well the possibilities are laid out for whoever eventually tries to do it... I really hope Wēta would be involved if it did ever happen.
I daydreamed about a LOTR theme park way back in the 90's. With such features as a Moria dark ride, Lorien tree houses, the Anduin river ride from Lorien through the Argonath to Minas Tirith, an Eagle's Flight bucket ride from Rivendell across the mountains to Mirkwood, a Mirkwood spiders roller coaster, and a place in Hobbiton to get your pictures from the park called Frodo's Photos. Looking back on it, I feel like my ideas were more exploitation than respectful of the source material. Still, it would be cool if something could be done that even Christopher Tolkien would be good with.
I'm actually surprised they aren't ALREADY building a LOTR land here. All the lands they are building have already been done somewhere else. Why wait to create a LOTR land with a mini-shire, Rivendell, a white tower of Minis Tirith along with the tower of Baradur in Mordor. People would come from across the planet to visit. Seems like a DUH to me.
I really really hope this comes true. I would love a LOTR land and hope they continue to expand to the other two parks to feature the trilogy. One land to each park catering to one of the videos. 1. Epic Universe - The followership 2. Island of adventure - Two towers 3. Universal studio - the return of the king
Mirror of Galadriel Boat Ride: guests enter swan boats and witness the War of the Last Alliance, and any number of other scenes. Solves the problem of having a ride vehicle that mostly makes sense, Epic Universe's lack of water rides and low thrill rides, and can take place completely indoors.
Loved this :) I'm also a hardcore Tolkien fan and have dreamed of a LOTR park for years too xd I agree a LOTR land would likely be based around the Shire and Rivendell. Rather than a ride based around the barrel escape (which is the most logical Rivendell ride) I'd go larger scale and do a ride that begins with Ents all around you, life sized with moving parts, some leaning towards you and talking, then going into the Stone Troll encounter with camp fire and riddles, then onto Mirkwood and giant webs and spiders, finally leading into the Lonely Mountain and Smaug the Dragon and the piles of gold. Basically going from west of Mirkwood to east of Mirkwood. The most obvious ride by a mile for me, even if it doesn't exactly fit in with the Shire/Rivendell probable layout is a Mines Of Moria, similar to the Indiana Jones ride with a main room that has depth and layers to it but on a bigger scale to show the scale more of a vast Moria. A dark ride version of Big Thunder Mountain in a sense mixed with Indiana Jones with a wonderful Moria overlay.
Being that it is universal the belief is they would do it right. Since I will be moving to the Tampa area in the next couple years I am so much looking forward to Epic. Them adding a LOTR land too would be incredible.
If Star Wars is too good for theme parks, Middle Earth should be no exception. But we’re not getting a ‘Middle Earth’ theme park, its Lord of the Rings, because it’s keep being handled by people who don’t understand Professor Tolkien’s work. If they did, they’d know that ‘the Lord of the Rings’ is just another Middle Earth take and not a franchise name.
Oh wow, you really did think about this a lot, that's an *amazing* pitch for a LOTR attraction. I mean, I thought of the barrel ride like everyone else, but you went several steps beyond to take the experience up more than just one level. Universal could do worse than to give you a seat at the table when designing such a theme park! One ride that immediately came to my mind as well is a Moria-themed drop tower. The queue could involve a recreation of the full journey through the mines as well, perhaps including a mini game where you have to shoot at the pursuing goblins. The ride itself could play the final part of the journey as you're going up and then, just as Gandalf loses his grip and tumbles down, so do you. And as you descend, you can see the Balrog beneath you.
Just came back from a universal Orlando trip. How cool it would be to see mount doom and the tower with the all seeing eye at the top in the dark part of that expansion, with the lighter portions of middle earth in the other section would be so cool. They could easily do a barrel ride, flying with the eagles, or bilbos magic ring through the mountain or something would be very cool to see. The Ride of the Rohirrim with lotr music blaring would make grown men cry. Including me lmfao. I was just there and swore I saw sting being sold in a medieval shop under a generic name! Honestly a kickass experience at a theme park where you can be engulfed in Tolkien’s universe would be exactly what the lotr enterprise needs after trop’s didappointment. Not to mention how two of the largest fictional universes, being Star Wars and Harry Potter, have their own parks! The lord of the rings deserves its own immersive experience! Universal getting that and Harry potter would be a complete home run in the theme park competition!
This would be first and only theme park I'd go to. I think a barrel ride through Mirkwood would be incredible with Bilbo doing the voice over. I think Rivendel and the shire would be great sets as well. Elven, mascots would be the only mascots in existence that I wouldn't be terrified of, I really don't like mascots. I need this to exist.
Thanks for this Matt. Excellent stuff and I shall remain optimistic. Why not as that’s a hell of a an area for an IP they don’t have yet. Don’t see why not. I’d be so happy to see Rivendell. Imagine those valley hills with homely houses within
I would always dream of being an uruk-hai orc or an orc and being shouted at such as "put your back into it, maggots!" While being forced to a march from Mordor 😂 kidding aside, it would be interesting to make a scary filled attraction from LOTR instead. Entering from the mountains you hear "the way is shut" monologue by the dead then down to Shelob's lair then to Mordor, evading the eye of Sauron.
Hey Nerd, great video. I was just wanting to drop an idea I had about a maybe future video of your's here. Just an idea I thought would be cool though. It's a "what if" episode, where, when the fellowship is on Caradhras and are debating on whether to turn back or not, they continue to either press forward and get across the mountain, or turn back and try to go through the gap of Rohan. I thought it would be interesting to see what would happen with Boromir being taken by the Ring and how it would affect the rest of the fellowship. And what Gandalf would do while trying to lead the Fellowship, maybe even losing his life anyway while trying to save them from Saruman? Just a suggestion I thought would make a cool video
While it would take some background but a mines of Moria ride would be awesome. While we don’t see a mining cart in the movie, it doesn’t mean they didn’t have it. Not too far fetched. Something that makes you feel like you are riding a horse on the Pellenor fields would be awesome as well and you could end by riding into Minas Tirith.
OMG, if only they could do that! Rivendell, the two towers, a ride could easily be hidden under the volcano. The river ride if very immersif also sounds like a great idea. The shire would be great but as it already exist, I would prefer them to creat things that does not existe yet!
It would be really cool to have an area where you had animatronic trees that used AI to have interactive conversations with guest at the park, as part of the Lord of the Rings area.
This would by far be one of the best investments Universal could make for Epic Universe, as long as they theme it towards the Lord of the Rings and the places in LotR. Not rings of power, and not even the hobbit. But it the amount of money it would make at Epic Universe would be crazy. Especially if it stays the only place on Earth with a LotR land.
Well thanks for that. @NerdoftheRings. Now you got me thinking about it. Like What if Rohan or Minas Tirith was the 'Hotel' of the park. And there would be a quiet place for families that would show clips of The Hobbit and LOTR where people can get out of the weather. The 'E' ticket would be the Barrel-rider in Rivendell. The Green Dragon or The Golden Hall would be the restaurant in the land. Just to have Howard Shore's music all over the place, maybe then have him and Bear create some new music for the land.
I loved what Universal did with Diagon Alley in their World Of Harry Potter expansion, but I don't think they could do justice to LotR in such a limited space. In an ideal world, they would team up with Weta Workshop and make an entire theme park in New Zeeland devoted to Middle Earth. I have always wanted to visit New Zeeland to see all the sites where LotR and The Hobbit were filmed. A theme park devoted to Middle Earth in New Zeeland would definitely put them on the map as a world class tourist attraction...but I guess they already are. 🙂
Yeah, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter really is awesome, I've been there a few times myself. If they actually did a Middle-Earth World, I would freak out so much! It would be so awesome!
It would be a great idea. However, it would be a difficult endeavor in scale, concept, as well as the rights to the films. Not to mention the Tolkien estate.
Nothing else will ever bring me back to a theme park. LOTR or bust. I am definitely interested on seeing a video with your many ideas about this. But maybe you should save them for Universal?
Its got to be a dark ride!!! Or what about a Gollum themed ride or ent ride? I got it. Valinor. They need to create a ride in which we leave Rivendell and travel to boats into a valinor-esque universe of middle earth. They could have animatronics of Frodo and recognizable characters.
What say you? What would you want to see in a Middle-earth theme park land?
I would love anything that was not as far a flight as New Zealand (as much as I would love to visit that, too)!
yes but only if I get to take the one ring home at the end and become HistoryOnPaper the great and people call me lord. then yes they have my blessing
Nope. Personally, LOTR does nothing for me. If Universal added that property it would just represent something I could skip and one less day to spend there.
@@flixguy440 Only curious: if that is so, why do you follow the channel? All are welcome of course. Maybe you are interested in LOTR even though currently it does nothing for you.
If it were up to me, you would be in charge of this. All your ideas sound great!
"Yes, we've had one fantasy themed land, but what about second fantasy themed land?" - Pippin probably
Pippin, certainly.
Pretty much all of epic universe is fantasy theme which is a funny coincidence though I think Universal shoulf embrace it as their fantasy themed park
1. Shire overnight hotel.
2. Prancing Pony cantina.
3. Moria mine cart rollercoaster.
4. Ent maze topiary.
5. Rohan horse petting zoo.
6. Orthanc observation tower.
7. Mt Doom fireworks show.
And more...
They can't just make 1 park, there needs to be several like the harry potter ones. We need Minas Tirith, The mines of Moria, the tower of Isengard, Helms deep, and of course, Mordor, just imagine a force perspective structure of mount doom and the eye of Sauron looking huge. Even a land having the lake town and Erebor would be amazing.
Don't forget the shire
I have had an idea for a ride for some time!
"Seige of Erebor"
The land is mostly based on the city of Dale before Smaug attacks. The entrance of the ride is the gates of Erebor with some foreshortening of the lonely mountain. The queue is themed to the halls of Erebor. The pre-show is a big screen showing the outer gate of Erebor with Thorin and Balin welcoming us. From behind, Smaug begins his assault on the mountain. We are told to evacuate but our path is cut off. This is where we board the ride. It's a mine cart roller coaster with huge themed rooms. The centerpiece being the treasure hoard of Thror with a giant Smaug animatronic who blows fire at the guests. Thorin and Co try to assist in our escape. The finale is another huge Smaug animatronic breaking through the floor and we escape at the last second.
I think that would be amazing.
The very strong rumour in the theme park industry is that Universal wants to bring LOTR to the new theme park they have just recently revealed they are pursuing in the UK, rather than Epic Universe. It may well come to other places after that, but they seem to want it to be the centrepiece of that wholly new park (no doubt alongside Potter and some other properties). Supposedly they don’t want any replicated lands there at first, to avoid hurting the very lucrative trade in people visiting the US parks from Europe.
Dear Eru Illuvatar, make song into a park. For Frodo!
I would want to see the Balrog fight real close! down and up!
No the time for song has ended.
When I saw the reveal, I just couldn't stop thinking about a LotR Park
This would be epic, need a mines through Moria ride, Some kind of Eagle ride, a water ride maybe something with the Watcher in the water.. maybe a Rivendell food court etc a Lothlorien tree house or something along those lines
A LOTR theme Park would be such a Dream come true to fans!
So much potential there is. With Weta products selling all around….
Wow
Yes Weta all over the place
As an LOTR fan, I couldn’t agree more!!! But it’s not gonna happen.
I'm obsessed with theme parks too. I love feeling immersed in a world.
Not sure if you're into The Legends of Zelda, but I'm always posting reviews and retrospectives etc. in my channel.
One idea for a great ride would be a Mount Doom ride. Having orcs jump out at you, seeing Minas Morgul, Sauron. My goodness this needs to happen. And of course a place to eat in the park would be the prancing pony. Take my money NOW!!!!
I could imagine an LOTR Eagles ride, much like Disney World's Avatar "Flight of Passage". If you've done it, you know what I mean.
We need both Narnia and Middle Earth included in this!
FOR NAARRRNIIAAAA!!!!!❤️❤️❤️🦁
Narnia and Redwall have some overlap!
Considering Universal's top notch immersion with their 3D rides, and if a park ever does come to fruition- a Ride of the Rohirrim attraction would be hard to beat.
Join me on TORn Tuesday as we discuss this further! ruclips.net/video/o7XZC2SvyxE/видео.html
This needs to happen!
I can imagine a Flight of the Eagles ride, similar to Disney's Soarin' that takes riders from the Aerie in the Misty Mountains, over Mirkwood to Orthanc then on to Mordor and Mt Doom!
Can't give the LOTR theme park rights to Disney bc Tolkien said he'd never choose Walt to make his books into movies.
Would love a Hobbit/LOTR theme park but I would rather it be it's own thing rather than a land in one. I think the Hobbits lends itself to actual rides better than LOTR. I would adore a couple stage shows in Hobbiton and Rivendell where costumed singers perform songs from the books. Also, FIREWORKS OVER THE PARTY TREE!!!
Please do a park pitch, I would love to hear your ideas!
I long for this park to be a reality more than words could ever convey.
I’m still rather dubious about the notion of a LOTR theme park. I just feel like the Universal Theme parks, which have very narrow spaces full of people and big flashy in your face aesthetics that are incredibly unique but also very overstimulating, wouldn’t really fit well with the overall vibe of Lord of The Rings. I’d love to see a recreation of the Prancing Pony though.
If they do a park (and I hope it happens; it'd be a lot cheaper than going to New Zealand to see Hobbiton!), I think it'd be smart to base any rides around the biggest, most exciting moments of the series. A few that I'd love to see are:
1. Escaping Erebor: The riders go into Erebor with Bilbo and the dwarves, only to be discovered by Smaug, forcing them to escape through the city and its mines as fast as possible while Smaug gives chase, eventually ending up in Laketown, where they have to go around buildings set ablaze before seeing Smaug get shot down, and subsequently escaping the city as it's destroyed by his falling body.
2. Escaping through Moria with Gandalf and the Fellowship: Riders go with the Fellowship through Moria, and then end up having to flee with them... but instead of escaping through the eastern gate, we fall with Gandalf into the chasm, follow him through the Roots of the mountains (giving WETA a chance to do the slimy balrog that was cut from The Two Towers), then up the Endless Stair, and finally watching Gandalf slay the demon atop Zirakzigil
3. Destroying the One Ring: The riders are with Sam and Frodo going up Mt. Doom, but Sauron has seen them and dispatched all manner of orcs, trolls, and other monsters to stop them. The riders, Frodo, and Sam have to take side-tunnels through Mt. Doom, constantly being chased and finally reach Sammath Naur, where Sauron himself comes to take the ring as the tram teeters on the very edge of the platform... and then the ring falls in, destroying Sauron, and leaving everyone to escape before the volcano collapses.
I was thinking of something similar as a minecart like ride for either Moria or Erebor. A water ride similar called Bilbo's Barrel wide is good concept I can think of.
Apparently Universal in Orlando just bought around 1,300 more acres. I’m crossing my fingers that Lord of the Rings will be one of the lands. Besides the obvious lands like Rivendell or Hobbiton, can you imagine how cool a dark ride based on the Mines of Moriah or through Mordor would be? They did Harry Potter so well. If they were to have an LOTR land I know they’d do it right and I’d absolutely go back!!!
With the technology used for The Mandalorian, where they use projectors to cleverly create any outdoor location, a LOTR theme park could be amazing!
All four Epic lands will be amazing but I would be most excited for this franchise. Not a Harry Potter fan but loved the rides. Can't imagine how amazing a LOTR dark ride they could make.
I would want an 'Escape from Smaug' ride in Erebor, seeing even a partial Smaug animatronic head would blow me away!
I'm absolutely down for a Middle-Earth theme park pitch video!
To say you’ve spent some time considering a LOTR theme park is clearly an Elvish level understatement!
Barad Dur would be a necessity. Imagine the eye projecting a spot light at night that moves around the park.
😂😂😂😂👁
Oooooo that's a great idea!
You’re overlooking one little thing: the Tolkien family has to approve of everything Middle-Earth. They barely approved the movies, and I think the idea of them approving a Lord of the Rings theme park, as killer and awesome as it sounds, is just impossible. And if Tolkien himself was alive, the odds of him approving a Lord of the Rings theme park would be 999,999,999,999,999.99 to 1. It’s impossible.
Actually, Middle-earth Enterprises owns Movie and Theme Park rights. The estate didn’t have to approve the movies for them to be made as those rights were sold by Tolkien decades ago
This is the first I've heard of a Middle Earth theme park. Very interesting. To me, the Shire would be too uneventful to be worth including tons of. Green Dragon, sure, that's great and an easy choice. I also liked the fireworks idea with the dragon. But aside from that, you probably want more action or at least somewhere that's more than just "a place" as it were. I'd think about places where the films had a lot going on - Moria and the Woodland Realm as you mentioned, but also Helm's Deep, the Lonely Mountain, Amon Hen, Minas Tirith, Laketown, Ithilien, Beorn's cabin, Weathertop, the Black Gate, even Lothlorien and the Anduin river journey. So many ideas for rides here they could probably fill several more 20 acre expansion areas. 😂 I think the barrel ride idea is pretty genius, definitely would like to see that come to life. First idea I had was eagles... maybe around the Mt. Doom climax scenario where you fly to rescue Frodo and Sam.
And that doesn't even break out of the movies. There's still all the events prior to the Third Age.
They could make a ride of the Rohirim ride that focuses on going to Edoras to minas Tirith.
What about a combo of Disney’s Avatar and Soarin’ rides - flying around on the Great Eagles to see the wonders of Middle-earth?
Your idea for the barrel ride is EXCELLENT! If you can guard it so you get pay/credit for it, pitch it to Universal
God bless you and your work sir ❤❤❤ respect from Croatia 💙💚💙
A part of me is like...NOOOOOOOOOO!!! Tolkien would be rolling over in his grave at the thought of a LotR theme park!!! But then...it's easy to justify it as bringing more people into the fan base and propagating Tolkien's works. That's fair...but...his works absolutely have a (if not religious) certainly a spiritual value, and not in the same way as say some loons have had Jedi themed weddings...this is different. I have to come down on the side of...no LotR theme parks please.
Yeah didn't Tolkien explicitly say how much he despised the disney-fication of fairy tales? And isn't a theme park completely antithetical to everything he believed?... On top of that it feels like it would cheapen the beauty of the world of middle earth. The horror and majesty of Mt Doom being reduced to a jump scare roller coaster?.. I mean come on, does nobody care about keeping certain things sacred and mysterious?
Why should it have to take a theme park to make people pick up a book though? It's not like LOTR is some well-kept secret and copies of it are scarce. It's one of the most famous books of the 20th Century and you can find copies in every bookshop in the world.
Wasn't it also the case that Christopher Tolkien hated the Peter Jackson films? Yet they're regarded as beloved films, cinematic masterpieces, and a big reason for the resurgence in interest in the books.
I think it's far more about the presentation and its faithfulness to the books that matters.
Let's just hope there's no hint of Rings of Power at the theme park!
LOTR would be amazing in the new UK Universal park.
OMG Matt you lucky Dwarf!!! You finally got turned into one. 🤩 So happy for you.
For this video, yes I'd love to see your pitch. The sooner you get it on RUclips, the sooner we can influence the design as well as see how their vision matched yours. 😏
I too hope they don't pull a HP: "buy your own One Ring, then go with Frodo and take it into Mordor. Throw it into the "fire" or take it home and become your own Dark Lord and rule over Middle-earth". I hope not but I can totally see it happening.
Great ideas and video!
Man, been my dream since I first saw the fellowship to have a lord of things theme park so much like you, I’ve thought about this a lot. A barrel ride to me would be a must. If only they could some how work in an immersive experience to make it feel like you’re being hunted down by orcs… I think we have the tech now tho. A dark ride through Moria or Goblin town would be another amazing addition. A soaring over Middle Earth ride on the backs of the eagles would be great. Maybe even like you’re going through the battles or different scenes of the movies. As for a true roller coaster, I think you could make it an indoor one in the vain of guardians, but be Nazgûl or ring wraiths chasing down the hobbits. So much potential. This vid made my morning
Also, my first thought after seeing a drone show was that now they have the capability to recreate the dragon fireworks😂
UUUMMMMMM! This would be incredible. And yes! Make a full theme park pitch video please 😁
There could be a balrog fight ride with us going down, and then back up the way Gandalf felt.
Imagine if you have the ground level Shire and Rivendell but then you enter the gates of moria which takes you underneath like a giant basement. That land would be Moria.
I have made pitches for fun of Middle-Earth themed lands (and entire theme park resorts, complete with hotels and villas). What's amazing to me is reading comment sections like this one and seeing that everyone has nearly the same ideas of what the rides could be. Nearly every comment suggests a ride where you escape Moria, a flying Eagles ride, a Barrels out of Bond ride, and a Smaug ride. It's funny how we all seem to picture similar things in our minds, and only shows how well the possibilities are laid out for whoever eventually tries to do it... I really hope Wēta would be involved if it did ever happen.
I would love to see a full theme park pitch from NOTR!
I daydreamed about a LOTR theme park way back in the 90's. With such features as a Moria dark ride, Lorien tree houses, the Anduin river ride from Lorien through the Argonath to Minas Tirith, an Eagle's Flight bucket ride from Rivendell across the mountains to Mirkwood, a Mirkwood spiders roller coaster, and a place in Hobbiton to get your pictures from the park called Frodo's Photos. Looking back on it, I feel like my ideas were more exploitation than respectful of the source material. Still, it would be cool if something could be done that even Christopher Tolkien would be good with.
Mirkwood spiders could work as part of a rope jungle gym, with animatronics
my eyes are watering just with your ideas of a theme park, imagine if there was actually one!
Park pitch idea video PLEASE brotha! ❤
Ps. IloveU 😂
I'm actually surprised they aren't ALREADY building a LOTR land here. All the lands they are building have already been done somewhere else. Why wait to create a LOTR land with a mini-shire, Rivendell, a white tower of Minis Tirith along with the tower of Baradur in Mordor. People would come from across the planet to visit. Seems like a DUH to me.
Because according to rumours they’re saving it for their UK park to differentiate it from those in the US.
An erebor mine ride with smaug as the villain could be spectacular.
I feel like they could add a dwarven cave ride.
YES DO A PARK PITCH IDEA. I'm a massive universal and LOTR fan so I'd love to hear your thoughts
Yes please give us the pitch! The more attention given to this, the better. Let’s show them what this could be insha’Allah.
I really really hope this comes true. I would love a LOTR land and hope they continue to expand to the other two parks to feature the trilogy. One land to each park catering to one of the videos. 1. Epic Universe - The followership 2. Island of adventure - Two towers 3. Universal studio - the return of the king
Awesome thoughts! I’d absolutely love to see a full park pitch video from you 😊
May all your theme park wishes come true! Just imagine how many new Tolkien readers a theme park would create.
Mirror of Galadriel Boat Ride: guests enter swan boats and witness the War of the Last Alliance, and any number of other scenes. Solves the problem of having a ride vehicle that mostly makes sense, Epic Universe's lack of water rides and low thrill rides, and can take place completely indoors.
Or you could drop with Gandalf as he fights the Balrog. That would be epic.
Loved this :) I'm also a hardcore Tolkien fan and have dreamed of a LOTR park for years too xd
I agree a LOTR land would likely be based around the Shire and Rivendell. Rather than a ride based around the barrel escape (which is the most logical Rivendell ride) I'd go larger scale and do a ride that begins with Ents all around you, life sized with moving parts, some leaning towards you and talking, then going into the Stone Troll encounter with camp fire and riddles, then onto Mirkwood and giant webs and spiders, finally leading into the Lonely Mountain and Smaug the Dragon and the piles of gold. Basically going from west of Mirkwood to east of Mirkwood.
The most obvious ride by a mile for me, even if it doesn't exactly fit in with the Shire/Rivendell probable layout is a Mines Of Moria, similar to the Indiana Jones ride with a main room that has depth and layers to it but on a bigger scale to show the scale more of a vast Moria. A dark ride version of Big Thunder Mountain in a sense mixed with Indiana Jones with a wonderful Moria overlay.
Being that it is universal the belief is they would do it right. Since I will be moving to the Tampa area in the next couple years I am so much looking forward to Epic. Them adding a LOTR land too would be incredible.
it’s comforting to know i’m not the only one who’s had these thoughts ..
I would looooove any kind of lotr park!!! So much better than Disneyland in my opinion! And Weta is absolutely top tier ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
There should do a water ride for the barrels
Potter and LoTR portals side by side would be..... well EPIC!!
I definitely want them to create Rivendell!
If Star Wars is too good for theme parks, Middle Earth should be no exception. But we’re not getting a ‘Middle Earth’ theme park, its Lord of the Rings, because it’s keep being handled by people who don’t understand Professor Tolkien’s work. If they did, they’d know that ‘the Lord of the Rings’ is just another Middle Earth take and not a franchise name.
Oh wow, you really did think about this a lot, that's an *amazing* pitch for a LOTR attraction. I mean, I thought of the barrel ride like everyone else, but you went several steps beyond to take the experience up more than just one level. Universal could do worse than to give you a seat at the table when designing such a theme park!
One ride that immediately came to my mind as well is a Moria-themed drop tower. The queue could involve a recreation of the full journey through the mines as well, perhaps including a mini game where you have to shoot at the pursuing goblins. The ride itself could play the final part of the journey as you're going up and then, just as Gandalf loses his grip and tumbles down, so do you. And as you descend, you can see the Balrog beneath you.
They need to make a giant horror, thriller park. With dark rides and experiences. That would put them over the top
Excellent pitch! I'd love to see it happen.
Just came back from a universal Orlando trip. How cool it would be to see mount doom and the tower with the all seeing eye at the top in the dark part of that expansion, with the lighter portions of middle earth in the other section would be so cool. They could easily do a barrel ride, flying with the eagles, or bilbos magic ring through the mountain or something would be very cool to see. The Ride of the Rohirrim with lotr music blaring would make grown men cry. Including me lmfao. I was just there and swore I saw sting being sold in a medieval shop under a generic name! Honestly a kickass experience at a theme park where you can be engulfed in Tolkien’s universe would be exactly what the lotr enterprise needs after trop’s didappointment. Not to mention how two of the largest fictional universes, being Star Wars and Harry Potter, have their own parks! The lord of the rings deserves its own immersive experience! Universal getting that and Harry potter would be a complete home run in the theme park competition!
Lord of the Rings Land would make the Epic Universe over the top.
This would be first and only theme park I'd go to. I think a barrel ride through Mirkwood would be incredible with Bilbo doing the voice over. I think Rivendel and the shire would be great sets as well. Elven, mascots would be the only mascots in existence that I wouldn't be terrified of, I really don't like mascots. I need this to exist.
I would ❤️ to see a LORD OF THE RINGS land!!!!!
"Not idly do the leaves of Lorien fall"
❤ "Beautiful!" ❤
Seeing the balrog in a ride would be crazy!!
wtf were they thinking doing a how to train your dragon over LOTR or Pokemon..??
Because Universal own Dreamworks who own HTTYD. And also HTTYD is incredible.
Islands of Adventure just started giving away LOTR prizes in the gaming attractions. I think it is happening!🤗
Whaaaaaat?! Seriously?
In a RIXFLIX vid today he showed the LOTR prizes at IOA park!!!
That's good news
Thanks for this Matt. Excellent stuff and I shall remain optimistic. Why not as that’s a hell of a an area for an IP they don’t have yet. Don’t see why not. I’d be so happy to see Rivendell. Imagine those valley hills with homely houses within
I would always dream of being an uruk-hai orc or an orc and being shouted at such as "put your back into it, maggots!" While being forced to a march from Mordor 😂 kidding aside, it would be interesting to make a scary filled attraction from LOTR instead. Entering from the mountains you hear "the way is shut" monologue by the dead then down to Shelob's lair then to Mordor, evading the eye of Sauron.
Use Flight of the Avatar as a model. Do a journey on on an Eagle's back..
I didn't really think anything from LOTR would work for a park, but these are brilliant ideas.
Lord of the Rings & Star Trek would be great additional franchises for Epic Universe.
Woketrek...uck...even there parady would be better
Hey Nerd, great video. I was just wanting to drop an idea I had about a maybe future video of your's here. Just an idea I thought would be cool though. It's a "what if" episode, where, when the fellowship is on Caradhras and are debating on whether to turn back or not, they continue to either press forward and get across the mountain, or turn back and try to go through the gap of Rohan. I thought it would be interesting to see what would happen with Boromir being taken by the Ring and how it would affect the rest of the fellowship. And what Gandalf would do while trying to lead the Fellowship, maybe even losing his life anyway while trying to save them from Saruman? Just a suggestion I thought would make a cool video
While it would take some background but a mines of Moria ride would be awesome. While we don’t see a mining cart in the movie, it doesn’t mean they didn’t have it. Not too far fetched. Something that makes you feel like you are riding a horse on the Pellenor fields would be awesome as well and you could end by riding into Minas Tirith.
OMG, if only they could do that! Rivendell, the two towers, a ride could easily be hidden under the volcano. The river ride if very immersif also sounds like a great idea. The shire would be great but as it already exist, I would prefer them to creat things that does not existe yet!
It would be really cool to have an area where you had animatronic trees that used AI to have interactive conversations with guest at the park, as part of the Lord of the Rings area.
Yes, a theme park video
This would by far be one of the best investments Universal could make for Epic Universe, as long as they theme it towards the Lord of the Rings and the places in LotR. Not rings of power, and not even the hobbit. But it the amount of money it would make at Epic Universe would be crazy. Especially if it stays the only place on Earth with a LotR land.
Are you going to have a video on the Tales of the Shire game soon?
I'll actually have an interview coming up with some of the TOTS folks from my time in New Zealand! Stay tuned!
Well thanks for that. @NerdoftheRings. Now you got me thinking about it. Like What if Rohan or Minas Tirith was the 'Hotel' of the park. And there would be a quiet place for families that would show clips of The Hobbit and LOTR where people can get out of the weather. The 'E' ticket would be the Barrel-rider in Rivendell. The Green Dragon or The Golden Hall would be the restaurant in the land. Just to have Howard Shore's music all over the place, maybe then have him and Bear create some new music for the land.
I loved what Universal did with Diagon Alley in their World Of Harry Potter expansion, but I don't think they could do justice to LotR in such a limited space. In an ideal world, they would team up with Weta Workshop and make an entire theme park in New Zeeland devoted to Middle Earth. I have always wanted to visit New Zeeland to see all the sites where LotR and The Hobbit were filmed. A theme park devoted to Middle Earth in New Zeeland would definitely put them on the map as a world class tourist attraction...but I guess they already are. 🙂
Great video 😊
Yeah, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter really is awesome, I've been there a few times myself. If they actually did a Middle-Earth World, I would freak out so much! It would be so awesome!
It would be a great idea. However, it would be a difficult endeavor in scale, concept, as well as the rights to the films. Not to mention the Tolkien estate.
Nothing else will ever bring me back to a theme park. LOTR or bust. I am definitely interested on seeing a video with your many ideas about this. But maybe you should save them for Universal?
Its got to be a dark ride!!! Or what about a Gollum themed ride or ent ride?
I got it. Valinor.
They need to create a ride in which we leave Rivendell and travel to boats into a valinor-esque universe of middle earth. They could have animatronics of Frodo and recognizable characters.
I'd love to see LOTR as a Universal UK exclusive land, along with 007, Doctor Who... would help draw in people from other countries
That sounds exciting