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

TalkingHead

TalkingHead

Well-Known Member
wdwfan4ver said:
There is something to consider, the other major Orlando Parks have around for a long time, and Epic Universe had its grand opening last month. Also Google Reviews didn't get its start before 2007.

What I'm getting at rest of the theme parks were first open before Google reviews existed. I'm pretty sure if Google Reviews existed in 1989, Disney MGM Studios would've got low ratings in its first month after Grand opening.

The fact is when DHS was called Disney MGM Studios back in 1989, the park only had Studio Backlot Tour, Indiana Stunt Spectacular, Superstar Television, The Monster Sound show, and the great movie ride during the park's grand opening. I know Backlot Tour was much longer in 1989, but doesn't excuse the amount of attraction DHS started out for May of 1989 grand opening.

Don't mention Star Tours to me because that attraction didn't open till December of 1989. The fact is Epic Universe had more attractions during its grand opening than DHS did for its grand opening in May of 1989.
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The general public doesn’t think in terms of “wow today Epic sucked but so would my day at MGM if I’d been there in 1989.”

Opening a new park and getting very split reactions like this is not good brand management in 2025.
 
earlthesquirrellover23

earlthesquirrellover23

Well-Known Member
TalkingHead said:
The general public doesn’t think in terms of “wow today Epic sucked but so would my day at MGM if I’d been there in 1989.”

Opening a new park and getting very split reactions like this is not good brand management in 2025.
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If were basing these "reactions" off Google reviews I wouldn't say a 4.2/5 is very split, that means the reviews are mostly positive.
 
TalkingHead

TalkingHead

Well-Known Member
earlthesquirrellover23 said:
If were basing these "reactions" off Google reviews I wouldn't say a 4.2/5 is very split, that means the reviews are mostly positive.
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Plenty of the rave reviews are from people who went during previews and the first few days. More recent reviews seem to have a lot of 1-2 stars. Have to say the wordy canned Universal responses to those (sorry to hear, state-of-the-art technology, contact us at etc) have gotten to be laughable.

Admittedly a lot of people probably feel like it’s a 3-5 star experience and won’t register their feelings in a public review. But clearly this park has operational issues and needs added experiences.
 
D

disneylandtour

Well-Known Member
earlthesquirrellover23 said:
A family with young children could easily spend all day in SNW and Berk alone. It is most definitely a family oriented park, just like every other park in Orlando.
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Some of the attractions in Berk have height restrictions that would exclude kids aged 4 and 7 (unless they are a tall seven year old), such as Racer's Rally. SNW is better, unless the four year old is on the shorter side--then no Mario and no Mine Cart.

Here are the attractions that you can do in the park with a typical four and seven year old together:

Mine-Cart Madness
Yoshi
Two stage shows
(So Four attractions in total)

A typical seven and ten year old could go on a lot more, but (due to the average height of a seven year old) would still have trouble with:

Monsters
Drogon Racer's
Stardust Racers
(So they could go on six rides and two shows)

Despite young families with young kids filling the ads, this is simply not a family park in the same way Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom are family parks. Universal had a chance to go after part of Disney's demographic, and they missed this opportunity. This is not a knock on the park. It's just an observation that they're catering to their existing audience, which is focused on teens and young adults, not the audience that Disney cultivates. So many nice things in the park, but a missed opportunity, which I think is going to be a problem for Universal moving forward.
 
Jrb1979

Jrb1979

Well-Known Member
disneylandtour said:
Some of the attractions in Berk have height restrictions that would exclude kids aged 4 and 7 (unless they are a tall seven year old), such as Racer's Rally. SNW is better, unless the four year old is on the shorter side--then no Mario and no Mine Cart.

Here are the attractions that you can do in the park with a typical four and seven year old together:

Mine-Cart Madness
Yoshi
Two stage shows
(So Four attractions in total)

A typical seven and ten year old could go on a lot more, but (due to the average height of a seven year old) would still have trouble with:

Monsters
Drogon Racer's
Stardust Racers
(So they could go on six rides and two shows)

Despite young families with young kids filling the ads, this is simply not a family park in the same way Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom are family parks. Universal had a chance to go after part of Disney's demographic, and they missed this opportunity. This is not a knock on the park. It's just an observation that they're catering to their existing audience, which is focused on teens and young adults, not the audience that Disney cultivates. So many nice things in the park, but a missed opportunity, which I think is going to be a problem for Universal moving forward.
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Other than the bolded most kids from 4 and up can ride everything. Most 4 year olds are 40" tall.

IMO the issue seems to be mainly the type of rides. While most rides ages 4 and up can ride for the most part, they are on the more thrilling side.
 
Jrb1979

Jrb1979

Well-Known Member
disneylandtour said:
Some of the attractions in Berk have height restrictions that would exclude kids aged 4 and 7 (unless they are a tall seven year old), such as Racer's Rally. SNW is better, unless the four year old is on the shorter side--then no Mario and no Mine Cart.

Here are the attractions that you can do in the park with a typical four and seven year old together:

Mine-Cart Madness
Yoshi
Two stage shows
(So Four attractions in total)

A typical seven and ten year old could go on a lot more, but (due to the average height of a seven year old) would still have trouble with:

Monsters
Drogon Racer's
Stardust Racers
(So they could go on six rides and two shows)

Despite young families with young kids filling the ads, this is simply not a family park in the same way Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom are family parks. Universal had a chance to go after part of Disney's demographic, and they missed this opportunity. This is not a knock on the park. It's just an observation that they're catering to their existing audience, which is focused on teens and young adults, not the audience that Disney cultivates. So many nice things in the park, but a missed opportunity, which I think is going to be a problem for Universal moving forward.
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Tell me you don't take your kids to regional by not telling you don't take them to regional parks.

My kid is 5 and we've been taking her to parks like Cedar Point since she was 3. All she knows and rides is thrill rides and coasters.
 
A

AidenRodriguez731

Well-Known Member
Jrb1979 said:
Tell me you don't take your kids to regional by not telling you don't take them to regional parks.

My kid is 5 and we've been taking her to parks like Cedar Point since she was 3. All she knows and rides is thrill rides and coasters.
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My local six flags has rides to balance out the big thrillers though. Plenty of smaller coasters and flat rides which imo EPIC sorely needed
 
Sir_Cliff

Sir_Cliff

Well-Known Member
I saw this on the Universal Reddit thread, but I do think the Efteling hotel under construction gives some (albeit Dutchified) sense of how the Grand Helios could have been more effective as a themed, in-park hotel:

efteling.jpg
Efteling 2.jpg
 
Jrb1979

Jrb1979

Well-Known Member
Chi84 said:
Maybe you need to stop telling people what they need to do. 😉
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My point was more of a joke. My point still stands, majority of the attractions at Epic are accessible to families. IMO it goes back to for some reason many are looking for Disney level family rides and not Six Flags level family thrills
 
S

simon9454

New Member
Sir_Cliff said:
I saw this on the Universal Reddit thread, but I do think the Efteling hotel under construction gives some (albeit Dutchified) sense of how the Grand Helios could have been more effective as a themed, in-park hotel:

View attachment 866104 View attachment 866105
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Far better than Fantasy Springs Hotel or Epic's helio design(I saw indoor pictures too and it's breathtaking). Wish Universal didn't made a budget cut on the hotel facade. It's the main face of Epic Universe and the first thing you see once you enter Chronos. If I'm bring truly honest, it looks rather worse than the Vegas hotel and very generic modern style. Which is not suitable for a theme park building design. The park and hotel don't feel like complementing each other, rather breaks immersion(look at Dark Universe, Isle of Buck sightline situation).

Infinity pool on the rooftop instead of pool right next to giant black show building, revolving restaurant like one in Space Needle, Original(concept art) facade design...etc. There is too much missed opportunity.

Also, it would be far better if they went with Art Nouveau architecture style so it would blend with the celestial theme and other lands smoothly.
 
D

disneylandtour

Well-Known Member
Jrb1979 said:
Other than the bolded most kids from 4 and up can ride everything. Most 4 year olds are 40" tall.
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It's a range. Average can be 37 inches for a four year old. Or maybe 43 inches for a taller boy. The park is simply not arranged for family groups like this, even though Universal indicated that it would be before it opened.
 
lazyboy97o

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
Sir_Cliff said:
I saw this on the Universal Reddit thread, but I do think the Efteling hotel under construction gives some (albeit Dutchified) sense of how the Grand Helios could have been more effective as a themed, in-park hotel:

View attachment 866104 View attachment 866105
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It’s getting a lot of attention but I’m really not a fan of this hotel. It has some more pop in terms of color and contrast but it has a lot of the same issues as hotels like Helios or Riviera. Not quite as bad but in that same vibe of being more suburban McMansion than true traditional architecture. It’s all contemporary materials and methods so the result is very flat. They sort of do a tripartite design buts it’s very top heavy. The base gets a little bit of the language of larger stone but the large openings and very, very skinny columns (or no columns in the case of that first image!) break that image of a stone base. The pilasters read more from a distance because of the color contrast, but are also very thin and flat. Then there’s just a lot going on at the roof
 

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