Universal Epic Universe (South Expansion Complex) - Now Open!

[Tom Morrow]

All this talk about bad sightlines around the perimeter of Universal's new $7.5 Billion theme park tells me Disnerds would rather not talk about what is in said theme park.

I for one DID talk about what is in said theme park. Monsters is a top 5 dark ride! Stardust Racers is one of the best coasters in Florida. Celestial Park is beautiful (though needs more shade). The lighting of the park at night is top notch. The more mature approach to theme park design found throughout the park, as in treating theme parks as an art form to be respected rather than just loud and gaudy (IOA, for better or for worse), is much appreciated. The food at Epic ranges from good to fantastic which is a huge improvement over the old UOR offerings.

 

[James Alucobond]

All this talk about bad sightlines around the perimeter of Universal's new $7.5 Billion theme park tells me Disnerds would rather not talk about what is in said theme park.

If one side wishes sightlines and theming were better and the other dismisses those issues entirely, I know which one sounds a lot more like shilling and which side I’d rather be on, regardless of which company built a park.

 

[celluloid]

If one side wishes sightlines and theming were better and the other dismisses those issues entirely, I know which one sounds a lot more like shilling and which side I’d rather be on, regardless of which company built a park.

Why must there be tribalism at all?

Both parks(and really all) have their flaws. New parks tend to have a lot more boo boos by nature.

 

[Gringrinngghost]

Just wait until Universal botches the park ops this summer.

I have to wait? What if it is already happening?

 

[European1992]

I was happy to see 3 new pages of this thread and then had to go through...THESE. Ugh.

OT: Cannot wait to visit this park, looks stunning at night and truly hope it smashes so hard that Disney also gets creative soon.

 

[James Alucobond]

Why must there be tribalism at all?

You and a few others are making it tribal. Most commenting consistently point out theming flaws and immersion breaks regardless of the perpetrator. That you are incapable of separating criticism from Disney vs. Universal tribalism does not mean it is so for others.

 

[donsullivan]

I had a chance to visit the park for the first time this past Monday during the Team member previews. Since I worked on the project for close to 2 years, I knew much of what everything was intended to be and many of the realities and challenges of building something like this. I managed the commissioning of the first building on the site. The visit was enabled by a member of the team I used to work in, so it was fun to get some 'war stories' that would have significance only to us.

It is a beautiful park and I was glad that most everything that was planned made it into the real world and we'll all get to enjoy it. Including a few things that when we initially heard of them, we suspected were traps to see who was leaking things to social media. They were regularly setting those sorts of traps in internal presentations.

No park has an unlimited, budget and there are always compromises and decisions that have to be made to stay on budget and schedule no matter who is building it. There are certainly a few places where if you are obsessed with finding faults and obsess over them, you can find them. I found myself looking for things that I knew were going to be challenging to see how they managed to resolve the issues with it. But even though I knew they were there and looked for some in the final build, I chose to not let that compromise my experience while visiting the park. I would encourage everyone to not obsess over those items, and keep their focus on what has been built and the quality of it.

Unfortunately, because of the virtual queue, we were not able to get on Ministry of Magic which was disappointing but it's not like I will not be back (actually going to AP preview on Saturday) everything else seemed well fleshed out and operating well.

Universal will have a lot to learn in the coming weeks/months with guest flows and attraction reliability to learn how to manage things. All of that is totally normal for something new like this opening up to the public. The TM previews are a good stress test of things but when the general guests started today with Passholder previews the guest profile changes and that will trigger another learning curve.

If you get the opportunity to visit, I encourage you to not go into it looking for things that are wrong or missed- just enjoy the first new full theme park built in Orlando for a couple of decades (water parks don't count). Personally, I don't think you'll regret just letting yourself enjoy it.

 

[celluloid]

I had a chance to visit the park for the first time this past Monday during the Team member previews. Since I worked on the project for close to 2 years, I knew much of what everything was intended to be and many of the realities and challenges of building something like this. I managed the commissioning of the first building on the site. The visit was enabled by a member of the team I used to work in, so it was fun to get some 'war stories' that would have significance only to us.

It is a beautiful park and I was glad that most everything that was planned made it into the real world and we'll all get to enjoy it. Including a few things that when we initially heard of them, we suspected were traps to see who was leaking things to social media. They were regularly setting those sorts of traps in internal presentations.

No park has an unlimited, budget and there are always compromises and decisions that have to be made to stay on budget and schedule no matter who is building it. There are certainly a few places where if you are obsessed with finding faults and obsess over them, you can find them. I found myself looking for things that I knew were going to be challenging to see how they managed to resolve the issues with it. But even though I knew they were there and looked for some in the final build, I chose to not let that compromise my experience while visiting the park. I would encourage everyone to not obsess over those items, and keep their focus on what has been built and the quality of it.

Unfortunately, because of the virtual queue, we were not able to get on Ministry of Magic which was disappointing but it's not like I will not be back (actually going to AP preview on Saturday) everything else seemed well fleshed out and operating well.

Universal will have a lot to learn in the coming weeks/months with guest flows and attraction reliability to learn how to manage things. All of that is totally normal for something new like this opening up to the public. The TM previews are a good stress test of things but when the general guests started today with Passholder previews the guest profile changes and that will trigger another learning curve.

If you get the opportunity to visit, I encourage you to not go into it looking for things that are wrong or missed- just enjoy the first new full theme park built in Orlando for a couple of decades (water parks don't count). Personally, I don't think you'll regret just letting yourself enjoy it.

Thank you for this post. Glad it was fun. Such an undertaking.

 

[lazyboy97o]

You’re assuming they had the budget to fix the issues you have called out, without cutting back on something else.

Universal has been beset with the same sort of disfunction that has long plagued Disney. They are no longer the company that stretched a dollar. They had the resources available. Some of the issues are just one of planning, things that should have been solved long ago when the cost was related to moving things around on paper.

 

[Moth]

Look at these cool photos from today

 

[drew81]

So….

When does construction start on the new event space next to Nintendo?

AND

When does the Captain Cacao character breakfast get greenlit?

 

[DCBaker]

Video of one of the dragon drones:

 

[Centauri Space Station]

That is ebb and flow in everything. Especially with food and entertainment.

But IOA/Universal Studios and especially now EPIC have far superior Entertainment operations than Disney parks, particularly WDW and specifically Hollywood Studios.(which is almost back to entertainment offering count it had a decade ago since Mermaid and other venues have been shuttered)

So not sure how you can say this is where you weigh your value but feel they are some of the sloppiest in operation. Live Entertainment is one of the places Studios and IOA are simply the best of the major in Orlando.

I’d say Epcot and DAK have lots of great entertainment

Marvel Characters, Potter Frog Choir, Potter Tri Wizard, Olivanders, Hogwarts Express Train conductor, Raptor Encounter, Mystic Fountain, Madagascar characters, Seuss characters(and small shows in Seuss)

Blues Brothers, Beat Builders, Diagon Alley's stage shows, Money Exchange, Olivanders Marilyn Manroe, Parade, Horror Make Up Show, Animal Actors, Dreamworks show, and Bourne, Spongebob characters, Dreamworks

Compare those to EPCOT and Animal Kingdom and I don't know how you can think that the entertainment line up there is much better.

AK has two big stage spectacles...but to me that does not compare nor variety.

You are not nuts, but no accounting for taste.

Certainly silly to think of Uni's entertainment operation is weakest. And this is from someone who feels the park needs the stunt show and poseidon.

You seem to be a sit down theater show person.

MK- Barber shop quartet, Casey’s piano player, Main Street Philharmonic
Epcot- Mariachi cobre, Groovin Alps, Sergio, Voices of Liberty, Matsuriza, Atlas fusion, Command Performance, Bodh'akton, JAMMITORS, and Forces of Nature.
DAK- Divine, Winged Encounters, Viva Gaia Street Band, Kora Tinga Tinga, Buridika, Beats and Strings, Eco-Rhythmics, “Songs You’ll Dig”

 

[wdwfan4ver]

Its surprisingly close though for a 20 year old park vs a new park. Its basically even right now if we cut out things that aren't open yet (encanto, zootopia, and carousel) at 15 vs 16 attractions each
DAK

1. Affection Section
2. Animation experience
3. FOP
4. Conservation Station
5. Dino/Indy
6. Discovery Island Trails
7. Everest
8. Feathered friends
9. FotLK
10. Nemo
11. Gorilla Falls
12. Kali
13. Kilimanjaro
14. Jungle Trek
15. Na'vi
16. Wildlife express train
17. Zootopia
18. Encanto
19. Carousel

vs EPIC

1. Astronomica
2. Le Cirque Arcanus
3. Constellation Carousel
4. Curse of the Werewolf
5. Dragon Racer's Rally
6. Fyre Drill
7. Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry
8. Hiccup's Wing Gliders
9. Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge
10. Mine-Cart Madness
11. Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment
12. Stardust Racers
13. The Untrainable Dragon
14. Viking Training Camp
15. Yoshi's Adventure

It isn't surprise being close despite AK having more land than Epic Universe. Pandora originally was planned to have 3 attractions, not 2. Also the nature of AK includes animals and that means some of AK's land is not made for attractions and that means a good amount of the land is for the Animals AK has.

What happened here is the nature of AK vs Epic Universe considering AK has more land than Epic Universe does. I wouldn't be surprise if 20 years from now if Epic has more attractions than AK.

 

[THEMEPARKPIONEER]

This makes me so happy, got to see some full shows finally and spoil it for myself. Such a great music selection. The Harry Potter gave me the feels for sure. Had some of the same vibes from some of the Fountain of Nations shows. Just look at that crowd the fountain of nations in its prime or restored could have had this to.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

You’re assuming they had the budget to fix the issues you have called out, without cutting back on something else.

That’s my take also, in a perfect world with unlimited money, unlimited space, unlimited resources, unlimited time, etc both Disney and Uni could build perfect parks, we don’t live in that world though.

I defended Disney relentlessly, and still do, on the Tron show building… there are things in every park that could (should) obviously be better but in the grand scheme of things it’s a theme park and most little issues will go unnoticed, especially after a few years of growth. I remember all the talk of the Tron show building and for the life of me can’t remember if I even noticed it when we went last year, I just know I really enjoyed the ride.

 

[Squishy]

Video of one of the dragon drones:

That looks pretty good, too bad they didn't find a way to make the landing legs fold back on the drone.

 

[celluloid]

The pilots did great today!

 

[Squishy]

The pilots did great today!

I wouldn't be surprised if it's piloted based on waypoints which most enterprise drones have, the pilot would just monitor the flight & takeover on the landing if it doesn't have auto land.

 

[celluloid]

I wouldn't be surprised if it's piloted based on waypoints which most enterprise drones have, the pilot would just monitor the flight & takeover on the landing if it doesn't have auto land.

Partly. Still skill involved. Due to standards itnis a little more manned than that. These pilots were hired in the last wreks are also newer and were on job today.