Andrew C
You know what's funny?
Not really a double-standard, Universal Express Pass simply works better for their parks compared to the fast pass systems WDW has in place at their parks.
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Universal Epic Universe (South Expansion Complex) - Now Open!
- Thread starter Bob Harlem
- Start date
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
Attractions almost never run at max capacity. During programming, a park-wide assumption would typically be that you’re hitting about 90% of THRC. Different ops teams and ride systems will vary in their performance
I see. I agree with the express situation of daily ops. Not for me unless the Onsite hotel spree. It also creates the issue, if many did not use Express it would not be a necessity, so it was always a weird service situation for me.
I imagine that the way many see it different with some cause. Because both are business choices and providing a service comes with some nuances.
Disney Fastpass was alway free, and well established as a free tradition by the time it changed (to be fair Uni's original Express was a free priority return system too)
I think there are certainly some that have double standards issues, however there are the situation of what Premier Pass and Lightning Lane have become. For many it is not so much that it is a paid priority system, but sometimes the ONLY way you can be sure to ride something and almost always a scheduled time system even after paying for it.
Uni Express, like many other priorities passes you can use it once per attraction on your terms.
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A few details on the dragon drones via a new interview with Brady MacDonald and Universal Creative ride and show engineering manager Ryan Paul:
Universal Creative has been working for at least eight years to get dragon drones to fly through the skies over the Isle of Berk and Universal Epic Universe, according to Paul.
“The drone program is something that the team’s been working on for quite a few years now,” Paul said. “There’s been quite a bit of R&D in that realm. We’re talking down to materials. Every pound that you put on that drone is going to affect the way that it articulates and flies.”
Video footage has captured animatronic drone dragons flying over Epic Universe before the park’s opening.
“Those are our prototypes,” Paul said. “Those aren’t our final dragons. A lot of that is just the propeller programming and articulation of the wings.”
The traditional propeller-driven drones have articulated wings that use a series of small actuators to flap the wings.
“It doesn’t necessarily depend on the flapping of the wings to stay in flight,” Paul said. “That is just kind of that added element that is really kind of an aesthetic.”
The aerial drones will fall into two dragon classes: Gronckles and Monstrous Nightmares.
Gronckles are medium-sized Boulder Class dragons that are chunky and cute with gigantic heads, short bodies and relatively small wings that beat as fast as a hummingbird.
Monstrous Nightmares are large Stoker Class dragons that have long, snake-like necks and tails with sharp spines and a gigantic mouth capable of swallowing a Viking.
Universal Creative is still fine-tuning the dragon aerial drone show.
“That’s been a long time coming and it’s right at the threshold of being able to release,” Paul said. “Once we have that integrated and actually running as the show that we want it to, it’ll really add to the skyline.”
Full article:
www.ocregister.com
Universal Creative has been working for at least eight years to get dragon drones to fly through the skies over the Isle of Berk and Universal Epic Universe, according to Paul.
“The drone program is something that the team’s been working on for quite a few years now,” Paul said. “There’s been quite a bit of R&D in that realm. We’re talking down to materials. Every pound that you put on that drone is going to affect the way that it articulates and flies.”
Video footage has captured animatronic drone dragons flying over Epic Universe before the park’s opening.
“Those are our prototypes,” Paul said. “Those aren’t our final dragons. A lot of that is just the propeller programming and articulation of the wings.”
The traditional propeller-driven drones have articulated wings that use a series of small actuators to flap the wings.
“It doesn’t necessarily depend on the flapping of the wings to stay in flight,” Paul said. “That is just kind of that added element that is really kind of an aesthetic.”
The aerial drones will fall into two dragon classes: Gronckles and Monstrous Nightmares.
Gronckles are medium-sized Boulder Class dragons that are chunky and cute with gigantic heads, short bodies and relatively small wings that beat as fast as a hummingbird.
Monstrous Nightmares are large Stoker Class dragons that have long, snake-like necks and tails with sharp spines and a gigantic mouth capable of swallowing a Viking.
Universal Creative is still fine-tuning the dragon aerial drone show.
“That’s been a long time coming and it’s right at the threshold of being able to release,” Paul said. “Once we have that integrated and actually running as the show that we want it to, it’ll really add to the skyline.”
Full article:
How Universal made dragons fly over Epic Universe
The How to Train Your Dragon — Isle of Berk themed land opened this month at Universal Epic Universe in Florida.
www.ocregister.com
lentesta
Premium Member
Mine-Cart Madness is running in the 950/hour range, which I think is pretty close to max OHC.
We've not measured more than 1,500/hour at Monsters, and that's supposed to be at 2,000/hour.
We've seen a max of 450/hour at Fyre Drill, but that might be just low demand.
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
Yikes. Mack advertised their installation at Europa Park as doing 835 per hour.
lentesta
Premium Member
That's what we're expecting. I think it's that people don't want to get wet.
Jrb1979
Well-Known Member
I have no issue with Disney having a premier pass. I have always been for it. My issue has always been the cheaper version Disney sells. IMO too many people are still using the LL queues and it affects standby. IMO Disney should follow Universal and only sell Premier pass.
EricsBiscuit
Well-Known Member
Could that low throughput on MU also be from demand? I do tend to notice that many of the ride vehicles go unfilled.
Tom Morrow
Well-Known Member
Very few people who are locals with APs are ever buying LL. LL users are almost entirely people on vacation buying it out of FOMO, which in turn drives up usage of the LL queues, which makes the standby lines longer, which makes even more people buy LL, etc.
Jrb1979
Well-Known Member
If you limit it like every other park does, then it doesn't cause that problem. I'm sure Universal limits the amount of Express passes sold per day
lentesta
Premium Member
Absolutely.
Lil Copter Cap
Well-Known Member
Also sharing this write up that does a fine job of breaking down (pun intended) May 28th:
themeparkmagazine.com
Epic Universe: Creative Excellence Meets Operational Chaos
Epic Universe has taken the definition of a theme park to new levels thanks to Universal Creative. But operations have failed...
themeparkmagazine.com
Tom Morrow
Well-Known Member
Both LL and Express have a limit to how many are sold per day, but the cap for both is far above the amount at which either would not affect the standby line.
A lot of Universal fans will insist that Universal’s Express Pass doesn’t affect's the standby lines the way Disney’s LL/Fastpass do, but anyone who has worked a high demand attraction at Universal (and pays attention) will tell you that it does. Especially when considering that a lot of Universal guests get “free” Express - the queues get slammed by Express right at 4:00 PM for the AP premiere pass “express after 4” users, for example.
Jrb1979
Well-Known Member
HIgh demand attractions will always be affected the most. All I'm saying is if Disney got rid of the cheaper version of the LL pass it would be much better on standby. A lot of those people that buy the cheap one won't spend the money on the premier pass.
Just wanted to add, I don’t think they hit their hiring goals for Epic.
Central Florida may have finally reached the tipping point where there simply aren’t enough people willing to work in the parks. Or, conversely, the people who are willing may be running into rehire restrictions from past employment that are keeping them out.
lentesta
Premium Member
At the Magic Kingdom at least, standby waits in May were lower than they've been in at least a decade. And that's with steady or rising attendance.
I think they've made some operational changes:
- Slightly de-prioritizing LL and prioritizing standby when it comes to boarding guests
- Maybe posted wait times are less inflated ("even more accurate", if you will) than they've been
Sir_Cliff
Well-Known Member
This may be a little bit of a diversion, but looking at some of these operational issues that Epic has been having leads me to wonder what the opening months of Disney's Animal Kingdom were like.
That park opened with far fewer attractions and before the days of all these ticketing schemes aimed at limiting capacity, so watching some of the challenges Universal has faced makes we wonder how Animal Kingdom didn't absolutely collapse when people showed up to experience a new park with so few attractions. Is it just that memories have faded of those challenges? Was the technology more straightforward and thus reliability better? Or is there some kind of other mix of factors?
That park opened with far fewer attractions and before the days of all these ticketing schemes aimed at limiting capacity, so watching some of the challenges Universal has faced makes we wonder how Animal Kingdom didn't absolutely collapse when people showed up to experience a new park with so few attractions. Is it just that memories have faded of those challenges? Was the technology more straightforward and thus reliability better? Or is there some kind of other mix of factors?
JusticeDisney
Well-Known Member
Where are all those folks (and they were many around here) who proclaimed that Epic would spell doom for WDW? Asking for a friend.