Gusey
Well-Known Member
I had seen the Monsters one but not the others, specifically the Hero Parking Lot which Links to a current rumor
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Universal Epic Universe (South Expansion Complex) - Now Open!
- Thread starter Bob Harlem
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lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
It does not. The parking signage was set when Legend of Zelda was still being explored for Islands of Adventure.I had seen the Monsters one but not the others, specifically the Hero Parking Lot which Links to a current rumor
Minnesota disney fan
Well-Known Member
I agree. I only have one example, but it is a New family to Orlando area. They went to Universal, which they loved, and Legoland, gatorland, and other places I can't remember, including the beach. They have boys age 8 and 10, so they absolutely loved the HP lands. Only one example, but they did a lot without visiting Disney. Why did they skip disney? They did a lot of online checking and research from people who had been to Disney and decided to Not spend that kind of money on a theme park they weren't interested in. Their boys are into HP and Nintendo and legos, not Mickey Mouse.
I had seen the Monsters one but not the others, specifically the Hero Parking Lot which Links to a current rumor
It does loosely but not in the way people are probably thinking.
Agent H
Well-Known Member
Lord of the Rings?
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
Universal has not been able to secure those rights.
Expansion pads really are just empty spaces.
Gringrinngghost
Well-Known Member
What do you mean precisely by "all these hotels for guests to into visit Epic
... they have what now?
What I mean precisely is that for a Resort destination to claim that their a weeklong, and that they are the same level of Disney mixed in with those saying who have been saying that Epic will for all intents and purposes "kill Disney", I said what I said. Universal who desperately wants to position themselves as a Disney tier, operate as if they are SeaWorld. So, no Tom, I am not talking about attraction operational efficiency, I am talking about overall operations. Two prime examples that I can think of, first and foremost are park hours, well UOR will likely close Epic in February as they do their other parks, 6-7pm such as this past January, whereas Disney had 3 park closings at 9pm or later.
Code:
January 13, 2025
Universal Orlando Resort
Universal Studios: 9AM – 7PM
Islands of Adventure: 9AM – 7PM
Volcano Bay: 10AM – 5PM
Walt Disney World Resort
Magic Kingdom: 9AM-10PM
EPCOT: 9AM-9PM
Hollywood Studios: 9AM-9PM
Animal Kingdom: 8AM-6PM
Blizzard Beach: 10AM-5PM
Typhoon Lagoon: CLOSED
SeaWorld:
SeaWorld Orlando. 10AM - 6PMSo, if you want to take pride in that fact you have 8 hotels and are a week long destination. Then put your money where your mouth is, and have hours that match a destination in your area that easily matches that of the other week long competitor you have in town, since there is very little overlap in terms of pricing these days.
If Epic want's to charge Magic Kingdom prices --which they are, I would like to see and will likely not, Magic Kingdom Hours if the past is any indication.
UOR has food that is on parity to that of SeaWorld down to pricing and quality, but they also need to tighten up how they operate, as they can get a bit too loose in how they operate, considering the reports of multiple instances of food poisoning at Epic that have been going around Social Media including one that required a brief visit to the ER.
All I am saying is that, if universal wants to position themselves as a vacation destination at the same level of Disney, they need to actually match that and act if they are a week long destination and not a local park.
Gringrinngghost
Well-Known Member
Currently there is only one expansion pad for a new land. The rest are for their lands.
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
There are two. One on each side, between the two existing lands.
Universal Studios closes so often at 7, except for Summer, and three months of Mardi, Thanksgiving Christmas, Easter, Spring Break and August 29th-Nov for HHN till 2am almost every night.
It would be great to see more of the parks in the dark, but the parks with their flaws are generally in better upkeep than Disney with proper maintenence scheduled time and the closed early all the time trope is quite exaggerated.
While not not a 1 to 1: This is why things like Kong's outdoor temple scene is fixed again and it took months to get something like a floating candelabra back in HM while MK so often looks abused and Towr of Terror/big thunder etc...are in garbage shape.
Because a park closes at 7pm in shoulder season weeks does not mean they are a local or operate like a regional park.
It means they don't have a college program and 22 square miles to do big firework shows nightly.
The food poisoning claim is so ridiculous. We are really reaching now.
It would be great to see more of the parks in the dark, but the parks with their flaws are generally in better upkeep than Disney with proper maintenence scheduled time and the closed early all the time trope is quite exaggerated.
While not not a 1 to 1: This is why things like Kong's outdoor temple scene is fixed again and it took months to get something like a floating candelabra back in HM while MK so often looks abused and Towr of Terror/big thunder etc...are in garbage shape.
Because a park closes at 7pm in shoulder season weeks does not mean they are a local or operate like a regional park.
It means they don't have a college program and 22 square miles to do big firework shows nightly.
The food poisoning claim is so ridiculous. We are really reaching now.
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Sir_Cliff
Well-Known Member
Ah, you're still repeating that's what people are talking about when they talk about sightlines when you know that's not true while adding a winking face to signify you don't actually mean what you're saying. I guess I have learned my lesson for engaging!I heard from the top of the stardust racers coaster in EPIC you can see the sewage plant, I not sure if I would have noticed it, well NOW I WILL
Tom Morrow
Well-Known Member
I agree for the most part, especially about the park hours. They would be doing themselves a huge disservice to not keep Epic open later, since the park looks significantly better at night. I hope this isn’t like what happened with Volcano Bay, where it was given really beautiful lighting all over and designed to be used at night, but almost no one ever sees it.
And yeah they are still a little sloppy with efficiency of food services, parking, getting into the park, etc. Ride operations are significantly better than SeaWorld and really most parks though.
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Disstevefan1
Well-Known Member
Wait, how can I possibly know that's not true????
Having never ridden it my self I have no idea, and personally, I don't care if you can see the sewage plant from the top of Stardust racers.
I heard you can see the sewage plant from the top of Stardust racers and that folks said this was a site line problem.
I may be guilty of passing bad information by just relaying what I heard. If this information is wrong, then GREAT and I apologize for passing wrong information.
No winkies were harmed in the writing of this post.
Do you realize there's much, MUCH more to operations than what time a park closes? Or a rare occurrence of food poisoning? Comparing Universal's "overall operations" to SeaWorld's is completely absurd. One of the worst takes I've ever seen in my 20+ years on this forum. Have you been to SeaWorld lately? It's a train wreck.
This conversation just makes me miss what Sea World used to be.
Busch Gardens and Sea World used to be stellar by comparison to what poor exec choices have lesd them to. 1998 and JTA opening at SW and things at BGT were awesome.
Those parks deserve execs who care. Come on Herschend.
Busch Gardens and Sea World used to be stellar by comparison to what poor exec choices have lesd them to. 1998 and JTA opening at SW and things at BGT were awesome.
Those parks deserve execs who care. Come on Herschend.
They think they can just add a new roller coaster every year and the park will run itself on autopilot. Or more accurately, piloted by the folks Disney & Universal wouldn't hire (sorry if anyone works there, but that's the overwhelming impression I leave with.) I've only been to Busch Gardens for HOS in recent years, but I can imagine it's more of the same.
Yes. Standards are so far lower. When Disney dropped Tradtions and lowered training and orientation...Sea World took connections from a day to 2 hours.
I was on educational teams there in 2014. It was bad then bht somehow even worse now. Education is a vital part of the animal park angle SW and Busch are and it is sad what it has become. The Brian Morrow attractions did not always stick the landing bht were honest attempts. And it's sad when you had decent things like Turtle Trek turn into a dome room with random coral in aquariums.
BGT Wise:
Kumba has been SBNO since at least Feb and I recently learned this. Wild and heartbreaking.
HOS and creative side of Busch fell hard and fast after they chose to lose Scott Swenson.
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Gusey
Well-Known Member
Hence, why I said I was glad we actually have the images of the parking lot available. Then we can actually see what everyone was saying about it resembling Zelda's shield. Some are saying that Hero is supposed to represent Celestial Park but I would have thought it would have been the Explorer parking lot. If it's not Zelda, do you know what the Hero lot is supposed to be representing?
Disstevefan1
Well-Known Member
I am officially staying out of the getting food poising at theme parks discussion.
Disstevefan1
Well-Known Member
SeaWorld used to a great (to us anyway) pizza buffet. It was in that building they used to give the free beer out.
That was our go to place to eat. We were sad when it was gone.