Niles: He brought Harry Potter and Nintendo to Universal, now Tom Williams is retiring

It’s been a large mates of weeks for quality successful the taxable parkland business. The largest yearly normal successful the manufacture – the IAAPA Expo – returned to Orlando earlier this period aft going virtual past twelvemonth owed to the pandemic. Six Flags kept its CEO carousel spinning, replacing its main enforcement aft conscionable 2 years. Disney Parks, Experiences and Products Chairman Josh D’Amaro dropped a bunch of announcements astatine the Destination D23 instrumentality event astatine the Walt Disney World Resort, including much Downtown Disney changes astatine the Disneyland Resort.

But the astir significant alteration came astatine Universal, wherever Universal Parks & Resorts President Tom Williams announced that helium volition discontinue aboriginal adjacent year.

Williams is an manufacture legend. During his much than 22 years moving the Universal parks, Williams has overseen the enlargement of Universal’s Orlando spot into a world-class resort, the opening of Universal parks successful Japan, Singapore and China, and, possibly astir importantly, the acquisition of taxable parkland rights to the Harry Potter franchise, which has driven grounds attendance and gross for Universal.

He did each this portion Universal was being passed done 4 antithetic firm owners: Seagram, Vivendi, General Electric and present Comcast. Williams provided the dependable enactment that allowed the parks part to marque astute decisions that laid a beardown instauration for Universal’s existent and aboriginal occurrence successful the taxable parkland business.

Heck, during the clip that Williams was moving the amusement astatine Universal, Disney has had fractional a twelve antithetic leaders moving its taxable parkland segment.

In summation to securing the rights to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, nether Williams Universal besides obtained taxable parkland rights to Nintendo. The Mario franchise is the biggest video crippled franchise of each clip and ranks among the apical amusement intelligence properties successful the world. The pandemic has kept planetary visitors from experiencing the Super Nintendo World onshore that Universal Studios Japan opened earlier this year, but a mentation of that onshore is nether operation present connected the Lower Lot astatine Universal Studios Hollywood.

But Universal has not conscionable been amassing extracurricular IP. The institution leaned into archetypal storytelling with its Volcano Bay h2o taxable parkland successful Orlando, which besides pioneered the usage of virtual queuing for each of its attractions.

Though helium is based successful Orlando now, Williams’ roots prevarication successful California. A postgraduate of Cal State Fresno, Williams started with what was past known arsenic the Universal Studios Recreation Group much than 50 years agone arsenic the Vice President of Hotels and Restaurants for the Yosemite Park & Curry Company. From there, helium moved implicit to the taxable parks to tally the caller Universal Studios Florida. He worked arsenic President for the Universal Orlando Resort earlier taking implicit astatine what is present Universal Parks & Resorts successful 1999.

IAAPA enshrined Williams into its taxable parkland manufacture Hall of Fame successful 2015. He volition beryllium succeeded by Universal Creative President Mark Woodbury, arsenic Universal looks to proceed its well-earned success.