Jon81uk
Well-Known Member
Although Bourne stunt show replaced Terminator stunk show, Shrek 3D replaced Alfred Hitchcock films. Those locations have always been shows ever since attractions opened in those spaces.
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Universal Studios Fall From Grace
- Thread starter Constipated Palpatine
- Start date
Although Bourne stunt show replaced Terminator stunk show, Shrek 3D replaced Alfred Hitchcock films. Those locations have always been shows ever since attractions opened in those spaces.
Rich Brownn
Well-Known Member
My point was it doesn't need to be replaced with rides. Some people actually enjoy shows too.
Jon81uk
Well-Known Member
That was my point too in response to someone who wanted the shows replaced.
There are always going to be critiques. Some justified. But where Universal is excelling at right now over Disney is the experience
We can argue over rides, food quality, etc
But I don’t need to plan to be at The Mummy at 3:47pm and stress out that I’m going to miss my “window”. Nor do I need to be incessantly refreshing my phone to see if a spot on Velocicoaster has opened up.
We can argue over rides, food quality, etc
But I don’t need to plan to be at The Mummy at 3:47pm and stress out that I’m going to miss my “window”. Nor do I need to be incessantly refreshing my phone to see if a spot on Velocicoaster has opened up.
UpAllNight
Well-Known Member
Exactly. If you stay on-site especially, Universal is delightful. You can arrive at Islands for early entry, get on Velocicoaster, possibly the best coaster on the planet, in 20 minutes, grab a go on FJ and be ready and first in queue for several rides as the park opens and the masses swarm to the rides you've already picked off. By 11 you've done 6 or 7 of the best rides in the world, and take a long early lunch and have a few drinks and nice food at Mythos, then casually make your way around the park at your leisure - knowing you've already done enough to go home satisfied. It's perfect.
Also, single rider at Universal is top tier. We will always try go on together, but we've been on Spiderman, FJ, Hulk, so many times, and often we rind ourselves skipping a 50 minutes queue and sitting in different rows of the same vehicle. Sometimes we're taking it casual in an afternoon, and walk on spiderman single rider 3 times in half an hour, to get the ride count up.
If you get too hot, you can drop back to the hotel easily, dip in the pool. Back to the park for some night rides. Early finish and down to Citywalk for some drinks and nice food.
The only stress of the day is the inevitable 80 min queue for Hagrids, but we typically do that last as it's one of the best night rides on the planet, and totally worth it. You also get to spill out into an empty, dark, Hogsmede, if you time it right, which is a great end to a night.
The place is a dream, and I love it.
BubbaisSleep
Well-Known Member
Exactly, you just get way more vacation with your theme park experience at USO these days. Volcano Bay is amazing too for those staying on property. I know some criticize it as a waterpark itself but it's such an amazing addition for onsite guests, especially with the walk being so short from Cabana Bay, Aventura & Sapphire. Volcano Bay basically feels like an additional pool for Cabana Bay haha.
We've happily stayed at USO for the last few years and love it. I love WDW too but it's like taking a gamble on getting your money's worth some days. I don't want to be stressed on vacation, crowded or not.
UpAllNight
Well-Known Member
We visited Volcano Bay the week it opened and I just don’t think we ‘got it’ really well. If you’re intense on getting on slides, I see the issues with Tapu Tapu. This year we just wanted to chill, take it easy, get on a few bits, have a few drinks in the sun...and it was great. We still picked off some slides & had a fun time.
BrianLo
Well-Known Member
I think you lost the plot of this thread. It’s about Universal Studios (the park) and all you’ve done is talk about how wonderful Islands of Adventure, Citywalk and Volcano Bay are.
Which I guess proves the point.
PS: IOA IS great.
Tom Morrow
Well-Known Member
It's the best coaster in Florida (maybe second best, I haven't been on Iron Gwazi yet), but there is a LOT of competition out there that Florida park goers often don't realize.
UpAllNight
Well-Known Member
I think you lost the plot of this thread. It’s about Universal Studios (the park) and all you’ve done is talk about how wonderful Islands of Adventure, Citywalk and Volcano Bay are.
Which I guess proves the point.
PS: IOA IS great.
hahaha I think I was responding to a more broad point about what Universal are getting right overall in the balance of how it is to be on their resort, but yeah, fair,..point proven
I do like Unviersal Studios but it gets significantly less of our time vs the other 2 parks.
UpAllNight
Well-Known Member
I'm maybe biased - I've been on more thrilling coasters around the world. But Dinosaurs are pretty cool, right? I came off it just feeling happier than any coaster I've been on, and that's my basis of judgement on best.
BrianLo
Well-Known Member
hahaha I think I was responding to a more broad point about what Universal are getting right overall in the balance of how it is to be on their resort, but yeah, fair,..point proven
I do like Unviersal Studios but it gets significantly less of our time vs the other 2 parks.
No doubt. It's not like I actively dislike USF either. I think I've come to the conclusion it is now debatably the worst of the six (even if it contains one of the best lands). Previously I would have long given that distinction to Hollywood Studios. Head to head I think Rise, Tower of Terror and (likely controversially) MMRR are the three attractions I'd rank above anything in USF. Even if spots 4-7 flip to them. Starting with Mummy.
Epcot I waver on, but World Showcase still resonates so strongly that its hard to say that park is truly below USF as a whole.
UpAllNight
Well-Known Member
We've just stayed on site at Universal for 7 nights followed by 12 at Disney. We hadn't visited any since 2017, partially due to covid, but we spent a lot of days around the parks, and Universal Studios got the least of our time of all the parks including Seaworld. I think collectively we maybe did 1 day at Universal Studios (a long afternoon into evening and an early start a different day). I reckon Islands maybe got 4 full days total, possibly more.
The improvement in Hollywood Studios was huge, so I'd agree on Universal Studios being the worst sadly.
Mummy was closed, which was a big miss obviously, and I think Gringotts is top tier, but beyond that it's quite a weak park. I'm a fan of Bourne, MiB, ET, but it's not enough.
The atmosphere of Universal Studios is really good though. It feels like it should be great, but it's ultimately a theme park and is failing on that basis. It's significantly worse than it was in 2000.
EricsBiscuit
Well-Known Member
Just road ET today and it is in the best shape I have seen it in years. No exaggeration. Pre show working. Name cards working (!). All AAs working. Even the troublesome Magdoll AA had noticeably more movement.
trr1
Well-Known Member
same when I was there in May
Just to clarify too, to call Alfred Hitchcock: The Art of Making Movies just a show would almost be underselling it. At least for some. It was a multi part experience that included a 3D gag show of Dial M For Murder turning into an attack from The Birds, then the physical set changes that gave an example of how Psycho was filmed with live actors and a story to the set. Then the final area that had so many exhibits that were mostly interactive.
Did something happen?
JoeCamel
Well-Known Member
New policy, lets see what happensDid something happen?
Vegas Disney Fan
Well-Known Member
I haven’t been to USF yet, Jan will be my first trip, but I’ve been to Universal Studios Hollywood, Hollywood Studios at WDW, Disney Studio Park in Paris, and the studio themed portion of DCA and I can’t think of any park that’s themed to “studios“ that is actually any good. It’s just a horrible ”theme” for a theme park, the only way to fix it seems to be demolishing the ”stages” (aka cheap giant boring boxes) and replacing them with actual buildings that are themed.
It’s a shame they tore out Jaws, a well themed area, to make HP2 instead of one of the dozens of boring buildings. I guess the good news is there’s a lot of theoretical expansion area since much of the park is still big square buildings.
It’s a shame they tore out Jaws, a well themed area, to make HP2 instead of one of the dozens of boring buildings. I guess the good news is there’s a lot of theoretical expansion area since much of the park is still big square buildings.