-
Welcome to the WDWMAGIC.COM Forums!
Please take a look around, and feel free to sign up and join the community.
Universal Epic Universe (South Expansion Complex) - Opens May 22 2025
- Thread starter Bob Harlem
- Start date
DarkMetroid567
Well-Known Member
It's really not.
It's similar to Disney at the entry level: Got a pulse and a clear background check? Welcome aboard.
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
Remember that “Team Member” is a very broad term that covers more than in-park operational roles.
Or there’s third-party IP involved Universal doesn’t want to run afoul of their contracts.
donsullivan
Premium Member
Or…. The park is not done yet, it is not open to the public and they don’t want photos of incomplete construction or attraction reliability issues flooding the Internet. They still have nearly 2 months before they are ready to show it to the general public and want the photos to be of the completed product not all the usual suspects raging against stuff that isn’t finished on an unopened park. That is not an unreasonable ask.
Or both.
UNCgolf
Well-Known Member
We were talking impressions, not photos/videos.
That's just one of the possibilities.
The average theme park employee doesn't know the particularities when dealing with third party IP. That's why they also have a small army of IP attorneys at their disposal.
UNCgolf
Well-Known Member
It's still strange to ban impressions, especially midway through previews. If there was a potential legal issue, it would have been banned from the start unless Universal's legal department is terrible at their jobs.
Banning photos/videos is completely understandable.
Regardless, I'm sure there will still be numerous reviews/impressions. That will be almost impossible to police compared to photos/videos.
My95cobras
Well-Known Member
I'm sure there was an assumption of good faith.
The reality, though, is that in themed entertainment - where much of the workforce is made up of hourly, entry-level frontline roles - the baseline for what "good faith" means, and the expected standard of professionalism, isn’t always aligned with higher-stakes environments with similar IP-usage, like film studios or creative agencies. It’s not about bad intent. It’s about different norms, different training, and different levels of exposure to the kind of IP sensitivities those other industries handle as a matter of course.
Additionally, even in more senior professional roles, the industry’s strong “promote from within” culture can lead to blind spots. In my experience, I was often one of the only people in the room with hands-on exposure to third-party agencies, legal reviews, or external comms best practices (and often the only person). I regularly found myself translating complex guidance into plain English - often for colleagues who’d spent decades in the company but hadn’t needed to navigate those kinds of external-facing dynamics before.
So imagine the baseline knowledge and professional instincts of someone who’s a high school senior, working their first job on weekends, selling Hogwarts house scarves to tourists.
UNCgolf
Well-Known Member
This is kind of my point, though. They should have known that too (i.e., known that these kinds of people would be attending previews and the corresponding potential problems).
All of this only applies if there actually is a legal concern, but if there is, a legal department should have flagged that to start and said "hey, we can't be sure if anyone will accidentally violate this, so let's just go ahead and make a rule now".
That said -- if a legal issue exists, it is also possible that the legal department interpreted an agreement differently than the counterpart's interpretation, who then raised an issue that prompted it. I think that's pretty unlikely, but it is possible, so I'll back off on that.
As for impressions in general... even though there's really nothing Universal can do to stop them, the fact that any would have to be anonymous (at least if the person doesn't want to jeopardize their job) does more or less eliminate their value. Since there will be no proof any reviewer has actually been, they could just be making it up.
Which ever one it is.......They do know these Portals will be Fair Game to the Public May 22nd, Right??
It was a huge mistake to offer Team Members to bring a guest.
There's no reason a first round of beta testing couldn't have been limited to Team Members, and when the park gets closer to opening, allow them guests.
There's no reason a first round of beta testing couldn't have been limited to Team Members, and when the park gets closer to opening, allow them guests.
Theme parks have been doing that for years.
This just happens to be the first new major park in Orlando since the advent of social media and influencers.