Len Testa - “Disney positions itself as the all-American vacation. The irony is that most Americans can’t afford it.”

[LittleBuford]

Ok…so after reading through the TA complaints…my take:

There is a lot of validity to many of those complaints.
1. It doesn’t handle the weather AT ALL. That’s the worst offense.
2. It’s under equipped for crowds…but that can be addressed.
3. The breakdowns are a big problem…but that can also be addressed. That has a lot to do with how the operators ( all of them) have begun to “bass ackwards” their pricing and profit strategies.
4. It is a “caste system” no doubt…and That’s rampant across travel and does and should bring a hell of a lot of criticism to pay.

The success or failure…”ratings”…will shake out based on what they do or don’t do to fix the park? And do you know the last 5 or so “new parks” in the US…they are:
Epic
California adventure
IOA
DAK
USO
MGM

That’s the list…for the whole darn country.

The reason I bring this up is what park amongst those didn’t suffer from major “underbuild” problems?

The answer is one: islands of adventure…the rest were all lacking and some still are…uso is in the worst shape now…California adventure has made the most strides (shocking) as it stands…my opinion.

But also the tank reviews on TA have some things that trigger the smell test:
1. “We were there on the last day of a 14 day combo ticket” has some baggage - from across the pond attached to it. They (it’s the truth) have been bombing TA reviews for decades. Sometimes legit…sometimes things not in the control of the operator at all. What sense is that?
2. Our party ranged from a 7 year old neuro divergent to a 75 year old…

…ummm…yeah…just a couple of things there
3. Complaints about the customers. Again…out of the control of the proprietors and should never be the basis of a review.


My take is the reviews are 50/50…some
Legit and some redonkulous. As is with the internet often times.

They built the park…they deserve the right to tweak it and see…that’s fair.

As someone who doesn't visit Universal, I can't really weigh in knowledgably. But my surprise at reading about the ratings on sites like TripAdvisor piqued my interest, which is why I looked into it a bit. I was convinced that review bombing must be at play, but many of the reviews, as you note, are earnestly written and specific in the issues they identify. Regardless of how Universal responds to these criticisms, I don't think the park has been, or will be, the gamechanger than many here assumed.

 

[AidenRodriguez731]

USF would be at the bottom of my list but I have not been to EPIC yet.

As someone whos been to all of these parks, EPIC is definitely not the worst Universal park. USF is imo a genuinely bad park. EPIC is still a good park. It's middle of the road for me. Under Epcot, MK, AK, IOA, but above Seaworld, USF, and about tied with DHS imo

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

As someone who doesn't visit Universal, I can't really weigh in knowledgably. But my surprise at reading about the ratings on sites like TripAdvisor piqued my interest, which is why I looked into it a bit. I was convinced that review bombing must be at play, but many of the reviews, as you note, are earnestly written and specific in the issues they identify. Regardless of how Universal responds to these criticisms, I don't think the park has been, or will be, the gamechanger than many here assumed.

I went in August

The recurring complaints are very valid. I saw all of them Come into play

It’s a well built park…but as it stands not an incredibly well designed park. A lot of obvious “flaws” seem to be there…and you can’t with confidence say that it may not be intentional?

Because you can only move with any speed through the park IF you buy a $350 line skip on top of the $175 ticket?

I hate to think that…but it’s inline with much of the shenanigans going on down the street.

This is becoming far less “coincidence” these days…

We are not “frequent” Universal visitors…we just happened to meet people in Hollywood last April and wanted to get epic “out of the way” in August rather than a heavier crowd time…

And enjoyed Hollywood much more than I thought and was turned off from Orlando for awhile.

The Nintendo land - in particular - was functionally useless. That’s a huge problem: the one in California was cool.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Except that a bunch of posters here are not middle class. Everyone likes to say they are middle class but they make more than middle class people do. And if they aren't priced out yet, then the premise is false.

I am sure there are families they are getting priced out; could afford to go regularly and now cannot.

Feel free to label these folks as you wish. No matter what label you choose, families are getting priced out.

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

As someone who doesn't visit Universal, I can't really weigh in knowledgably. But my surprise at reading about the ratings on sites like TripAdvisor piqued my interest, which is why I looked into it a bit. I was convinced that review bombing must be at play, but many of the reviews, as you note, are earnestly written and specific in the issues they identify. Regardless of how Universal responds to these criticisms, I don't think the park has been, or will be, the gamechanger than many here assumed.

It's hard to gauge off individual reviews because it's selective reporting, people with a complaint are always the most outspoken.

The most common complaint I've seen is wait times due largely to attraction reliability. The Harry Potter attraction in particular seems to suffer from frequent down times and soul crushing waits.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

As someone whos been to all of these parks, EPIC is definitely not the worst Universal park. USF is imo a genuinely bad park. EPIC is still a good park. It's middle of the road for me. Under Epcot, MK, AK, IOA, but above Seaworld, USF, and about tied with DHS imo

I actually agree with most of this. DAK is still lacking and gets kinda a “cult” following amongst fans that I don’t think it deserves. But I still like it. They need to Build it out and just wont do it. Simple as that and same as MGM…
USO is in a bad state…if Comcast is serious that’s where most or their interment will now come.

Seaworld is what it is…but I always feel like it’s under appreciated. The controversy really took a bite out of it.

But people have differing opinions on such things…as is their right.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Except that a bunch of posters here are not middle class. Everyone likes to say they are middle class but they make more than middle class people do. And if they aren't priced out yet, then the premise is false.

I think you are lumping two things into one

Certainly people are dropping from the pool due to prices. They simply cannot afford it’s. Premierdrum commented on that yesterday. It has always been and will always be the way. That saying about “fairness” has always been true.

There’s also people who don’t WANT to afford it any more. There is a key difference to that…and is the more worrisome of the two.

 

[jah4955]

I went in August

The recurring complaints are very valid. I saw all of them Come into play

It’s a well built park…but as it stands not an incredibly well designed park. A lot of obvious “flaws” seem to be there…and you can’t with confidence say that it may not be intentional?

Because you can only move with any speed through the park IF you buy a $350 line skip on top of the $175 ticket?

I hate to think that…but it’s inline with much of the shenanigans going on down the street.

This is becoming far less “coincidence” these days…

We are not “frequent” Universal visitors…we just happened to meet people in Hollywood last April and wanted to get epic “out of the way” in August rather than a heavier crowd time…

And enjoyed Hollywood much more than I thought and was turned off from Orlando for awhile.

The Nintendo land - in particular - was functionally useless. That’s a huge problem: the one in California was cool.

A recent visitor told me yesterday you had to climb stairs to best get anywhere within EPIC? I was surprised to hear that in the post-ADA world (you can notice many differences between "preADA" EPCOT & "postADA" (MGM)

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

A recent visitor told me yesterday you had to climb stairs to best get anywhere within EPIC? I was surprised to hear that in the post-ADA world (you can notice many differences between "preADA" EPCOT & "postADA" (MGM)

It felt really spread out…and for my frame That was never an issue (with one more recent caveat)…

I have walked around Epcot enough to probably walk to all the actual countries and back…but epic felt really distanced by design…and I’m not sure what the angle is there?

 

[AidenRodriguez731]

I actually agree with most of this. DAK is still lacking and gets kinda a “cult” following amongst fans that I don’t think it deserves. But I still like it. They need to Build it out and just wont do it. Simple as that and same as MGM…
USO is in a bad state…if Comcast is serious that’s where most or their interment will now come.

Seaworld is what it is…but I always feel like it’s under appreciated. The controversy really took a bite out of it.

But people have differing opinions on such things…as is their right.

I will clarify that I like Seaworld as a park actually and appreciate that the company is turning a new leaf. This is more a review of the actual park itself and its attractions to me. With many big coasters and not as many middle of the road coasters/family attractions, I cannot ride a lot of the rides with my fiance as shes not into coasters. Some of the coasters she can ride, I am unable to ride due to my size. I'm fully aware that this is unique to my situation but it is part of my review of the overall park. It's still quite a nice park, the coasters are overall great, and the animal attractions are really cool to me.

As for DAK, if you asked me on my first visit, I would probably say it was my least favorite Disney park. I've since been a few times and I've fallen in love with the park as an animal person + loving the themes present. I would say that while the park DEFINITELY needs to be built out (I say add in a Lion King ride, North America, and Ice Age section (and you could try to slot in a Jungle Book ride too) and it could be my favorite Disney park, especially with Tropical Americas. I would say adding in two new lands in a park close together would be "crazy" but its happened before and I'm sure will happen again. AK could use the capacity even though for a park with its number of attractions, it has a decent capacity)

While it needs the build out, I would say that everything currently there/planned to be there is of great to amazing quality. (I am one of the chosen few that loves River Journey as well so in my honest opinion, there isn't even a mid tier ride at the park)

 

[AidenRodriguez731]

It felt really spread out…and for my frame That was never an issue (with one more recent caveat)…

I have walked around Epcot enough to probably walk to all the actual counties and back…but epic felt really distanced by design…and I’m not sure what the angle is there?

I would guess its mostly to have space for additions integrated in the land. EPIC is honestly built VERY weridly for a theme park. You can add 2 more lands at all to it. Retheming anything would require basically a full destroy and rebuild. Etc etc. I'm sure they want to future proof themselves a bit but it was at times just inconvenient to walk between attractions. Especially with a "hub and spoke" design WITH NO WHEEL so you can't just walk in between the lands "next" to each other. You have to fully exit a land into the hub, walk all the way over and re enter. I just do not like that design for a park.

 

[UNCgolf]

As someone whos been to all of these parks, EPIC is definitely not the worst Universal park. USF is imo a genuinely bad park. EPIC is still a good park. It's middle of the road for me. Under Epcot, MK, AK, IOA, but above Seaworld, USF, and about tied with DHS imo

Diagon Alley is great, but outside of that, USF was a much, much better park 30 years ago than it is right now.

 

[AidenRodriguez731]

Diagon Alley is great, but outside of that, USF was a much, much better park 30 years ago than it is right now.

Yeah most of the rides are from just plain bad, just duplicates of a different and better ride over at IOA, or a few genuine winners. Not to mention, what actually is Universal now? Its not a movie studio park but its also not a ride the movies park completely. The entrance land is now Minions? but just cheaply splotted on the soundstage buildings instead of tearing down and trying anything of interest

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I would guess its mostly to have space for additions integrated in the land. EPIC is honestly built VERY weridly for a theme park. You can add 2 more lands at all to it. Retheming anything would require basically a full destroy and rebuild. Etc etc. I'm sure they want to future proof themselves a bit but it was at times just inconvenient to walk between attractions. Especially with a "hub and spoke" design WITH NO WHEEL so you can't just walk in between the lands "next" to each other. You have to fully exit a land into the hub, walk all the way over and re enter. I just do not like that design for a park.

Remember the goal of those parks is to pay for terrible movies and loser streaming services…not to pour money down them

So while I don’t disagree that’s what they COULD do…the “will” is in a different zone right now

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I will clarify that I like Seaworld as a park actually and appreciate that the company is turning a new leaf. This is more a review of the actual park itself and its attractions to me. With many big coasters and not as many middle of the road coasters/family attractions, I cannot ride a lot of the rides with my fiance as shes not into coasters. Some of the coasters she can ride, I am unable to ride due to my size. I'm fully aware that this is unique to my situation but it is part of my review of the overall park. It's still quite a nice park, the coasters are overall great, and the animal attractions are really cool to me.

As for DAK, if you asked me on my first visit, I would probably say it was my least favorite Disney park. I've since been a few times and I've fallen in love with the park as an animal person + loving the themes present. I would say that while the park DEFINITELY needs to be built out (I say add in a Lion King ride, North America, and Ice Age section (and you could try to slot in a Jungle Book ride too) and it could be my favorite Disney park, especially with Tropical Americas. I would say adding in two new lands in a park close together would be "crazy" but its happened before and I'm sure will happen again. AK could use the capacity even though for a park with its number of attractions, it has a decent capacity)

While it needs the build out, I would say that everything currently there/planned to be there is of great to amazing quality. (I am one of the chosen few that loves River Journey as well so in my honest opinion, there isn't even a mid tier ride at the park)

They’re adding zero new lands…in fact

What they’re doing is reskinning one and “adding” a boat ride that conveniently really only takes the place of the mouser that was blowtorched in the middle of the night 5+ years ago…

That’s what the scoreboard says

 

[AidenRodriguez731]

They’re adding zero new lands…in fact

What they’re doing is reskinning one and “adding” a boat ride that conveniently really only takes the place of the mouser that was blowtorched in the middle of the night 5+ years ago…

That’s what the scoreboard says

I did not mean they are adding land. I meant my suggestion would be for them to add two lands in BOTH North America AND Ice Age as two independent lands.

I will say that the addition of a proper ride over... Primeveal Whirl is an "addition" atleast of capacity and how much the ride can reasonably sustain.

It's also the addition of more satisfying theming. Dinoland's theming was great... unless you are around true cheap amusement parks and fairs like it. Then it feels like "Hey I could just get this at home". It was TOO good at being bad

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I did not mean they are adding land. I meant my suggestion would be for them to add two lands in BOTH North America AND Ice Age as two independent lands.

I will say that the addition of a proper ride over... Primeveal Whirl is an "addition" atleast of capacity and how much the ride can reasonably sustain.

It's also the addition of more satisfying theming. Dinoland's theming was great... unless you are around true cheap amusement parks and fairs like it. Then it feels like "Hey I could just get this at home". It was TOO good at being bad

The smart money is there will never Be another land…just a hunch.

Unless universal opens another Harry Potter type draw and they have a good 19 years to let what they’ll have in a couple of years “mature” properly

 

[Miss Bella]

IOA, and Epcot are my favorites. I'd rank the rest of the disney parks and the rest of the universal parks about the same. I don't like MK it does't compare to Disneyland.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

IOA, and Epcot are my favorites. I'd rank the rest of the disney parks and the rest of the universal parks about the same. I don't like MK it does't compare to Disneyland.

I think Disneyland is a “better park”…but always liked the better layout of magic kingdom

Epcot is the most unique park ever constructed…so that one is what it is

 

[Miss Bella]

The proximity of Disneyland and California adventure make it seem like one big park, and I really like California adventure. As a vacation destination Florida still wins by a landslide. Anaheim is meh.