Later this year Netflix is expected to open two theme parks called Netflix House, one in Philadelphia and one in Dallas.  Len Testa, President of Touring Plans, which helps customers plan park and cruise trips discusses what he expects from this new direction for Netflix.

Philadelphia

Netflix plans to open two theme parks, named Netflix House, in Philadelphia and Dallas. The parks will feature attractions inspired by Netflix's popular content, with the ability to quickly adapt new hits into experiences for visitors. Industry experts suggest this approach allows Netflix to capitalize on its extensive and frequently updated intellectual property, offering a flexible and potentially more affordable entertainment option compared to traditional large-scale parks.

The strategy mirrors trends in the industry toward smaller, regionally focused entertainment complexes. Success for Netflix House is expected to depend on engaging local audiences, offering value, and ensuring easy access, rather than competing directly with established giants like Disney or Universal.

Netflix theme parks to open later this year

Do you think Netflix house is going to be something that your newsletter readers the people that you cater to will want to plan their trips around. I think so. There's there's precedent for this. One of the things that Universal does really well is they have this thing called Halloween Horror Nights every fall where they set up houses sort of like Netflix is doing. And there's typically 10 of them. They make so much money on that. I think it covers the park operating expenses for the entire year. Immensely popular people plan entire trips about it. And the houses change every year which sounds a lot like the Netflix model that we just talked about. So remain brought up IP and how this is really a play on IP to extend it to allow visitors to engage and interact with the IP. What do you think of the strength of Netflix's IP because Stranger Things is not along the same lines as say Mickey Mouse or you know any of the characters that have been around for decades. I think one of the things that is Netflix strength is they are producing so much content that they could take something that hits this year like this in the spring and make it into a house in the fall. So they'd be able to capitalize very quickly on any hot properties that they have. And they've got so many things coming out that that might be a strength for them. Yes. What is the attraction right now to just theme park attraction and particularly I'm talking about you know that the Walt Disney World's Universal Studios those types of attractions. I know there's been a lot of staying power over the years but is this still a primary destination for a lot of folks for vacations. Oh sure. Florida is the second most visited state for tourism behind New York. And that's true for both domestic and international travelers. The thing that keeps bringing people back is these theme parks especially the larger ones. They're basically cities built for fun. So it's hard to go wrong with that. It's hard to go wrong for that though. We should point out at least when it comes to Disney World and Disneyland for that matter comes at a pretty hefty price. I mean particularly if you're taking your whole family there between the cost of admission and hotels and obviously the food and things like that. Is there room and space here for something that's maybe a little bit more affordable. And that's not a knock necessarily on Disney. Well I know it's a sort of a special experience. But when you start to look at something a little bit smaller scale like you talk about with the Halloween houses or with whatever Netflix is trying to do I'm assuming that the value proposition there is going to be way different way more cheaper than what you would get with a trip to Disney World. It is and it's really interesting that both Netflix and Universal are doing this. So later next month Universal is opening a dedicated Halloween horror house in Las Vegas as part of a standalone thing. So this and also they're opening one in Chicago as well. So this sort of regional small house based entertainment complex is something that we're seeing a lot of in the industry right now. How do you think about what Netflix is doing with the advertising that it is embarking on. You know bringing in this new business and trying to scale that higher. Does it feel like this Netflix house is a way to engage people in its ecosystem or is it more about driving people to spend more time on its platform and sell more advertising. I think it's a it's a symbiotic relationship. It's a it's a circle. They can see which which properties are doing really well and built houses around that. And then the houses reinforce the popularity of the of the content. I am curious though too because we were kind of talking about Disneyland and the 70 year. And I mean it's a great history because it really wasn't as much of a hit at the start as I think we look back on it now. It was a huge gamble. And I think about you know them picking that up. And then of course they had the success. And then of course they set up Disney World in Florida. And although I read that apparently it was originally going to be like in St. Louis or somewhere. But it was it was actually. Yeah. But there was some issues because they don't want your people drinking beer which is you know St. Louis. But but it gets to the idea that do you think that a large scale park along the sides of Disneyland where you're talking like hundreds of acres could actually be open today and actually do well and be viable. The capital investment would be massive. Number one. Number two you'd have to find a place that already isn't covered by other theme parks. So you'd be looking at like Texas I think would be it. And that's where I think Netflix approaches is probably very reasonable. Instead of outlaying billions of dollars for a full size theme park start small with a couple of houses and see where it goes from there. I think that's a very reasonable approach. When you look at the theme park universe you have Disney you have Universal. You have the company behind Six Flags. But what if you're a smaller player a smaller entity. How do you compete against those kinds of behemoths that have you know such an established presence and you know are something that are on people's bucket list. Right. So if you're like a Hershey Park in Pennsylvania you're not going to be able to afford a half a billion dollars for one new ride. And you probably don't have the infrastructure around data and analytics and things like that. I think they're key. And I think part of what Netflix is going to need to do here is really engage with the local audiences. See what they want. Offer them discounts. Make sure that it's easy to get to and get out of so that you're not spending two hours in traffic. It's all of that sort of like you know blocking and tackling fundamental stuff that is going to be the key to making those things a success. So diving deeply into the local clientele. Right. So one of the great things that Universal did when they opened up Epic Universe last Mara in May is it's really easy to get in and out of the park. And basic stuff like that goes a long way with the locals who you know that that's your base for theme parks. The people in the areas you know within a 40 50 mile drive. If those people are happy you have a good chance of success.

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