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

[Philsfan77]

I really hope not. I know Universal isn't Disney but I still wouldn't have a high degree of confidence that a crappy concept as a cheap and fast temporary fix would not turn into a semi-permanent long-term blight on this park.

That's kind of what they did with the Wolfman coaster and it sticks out like a sore thumb in that land, already. I'm hopeful they tear that out to put something better in sooner than later and maybe reassemble the ride with a new paint job in IOA somewhere like Super Hero Island where it can exist the way the X-men does in a land and a park where their attention to detail was never as good as Epic to begin with and where it's capacity limitations wouldn't as much of an issue... or just sell it to Busch Gardens or some other regional park.

I want them to enclose it, make it a true in the dark coaster...maybe a strobe light effect and some real animatronics (not the abomination that is what they have at the end) jumping out/down from the ceiling similar to some of the animatronics they have on Monsters Unchained. I like your idea too, but if it's staying...they need to fix it and something indoors would be beneficial for the park as a whole.

 

[MrPromey]

I want them to enclose it, make it a true in the dark coaster...maybe a strobe light effect and some real animatronics (not the abomination that is what they have at the end) jumping out/down from the ceiling similar to some of the animatronics they have on Monsters Unchained. I like your idea too, but if it's staying...they need to fix it and something indoors would be beneficial for the park as a whole.

I don't think they'd want to invest all that in such a low capacity attraction.

Putting a box around it where it is would kill the theme of the land more than the coaster already does as-is. It's painfully obvious the land was originally developed without this as a part of its skyline when you try to witness the burning windmill from anywhere other than about 20 feet in front of it.

What was clearly supposed to be a weenie in the distance getting people to go back there is now almost totally obscured from the front portion of the land thanks to that track. A building would only obscure that further and mess up the sense of scale created by the forced perspective of the Frankenstein Mansion looming over the village in front of it.

 

[JT3000]

The same but redesigned. I see. Just like Frontierland is going to be the same but redesigned.

Well I wasn't looking where it wasn't directing me. There are two points in the ride where the vehicle actually points you toward the floor. The part after the first Dracula scene is just awful - not only are the curtains and cement floor fully lit up, but the vehicle lurches forward and points you down toward the floor.

The second time you are pointed at the floor is where the Creature is so its at least mostly themed.

There's a final part where the brides start getting taken out where you are pointed up toward a dividing curtain on the ceiling. You wouldn't see it were it not for an adjacent lighting effect being way too bright.

Some re-programming of the vehicle angles, lighting levels and timing, and replacing the curtains after the first Dracula scene with a properly themed wall would go a long way.

I don't recall the vehicle doing that when I rode, but perhaps they've been toying with the programming. In fact I barely even noticed the curtain after Dracula and wondered what all the hullabaloo was about until watching a POV, because I was facing UP, in the same fashion as the transitions to & from the screens on Forbidden Journey.

To be fair, though, all this was created at a time when nobody thought of movies as franchises so it's more like a happy accident that all of the "original" versions of these characters Universal created were done at a time when this type of horror movie was popular and after Marvel Studios, Universal began thinking about the whole wider shared dark universe thing.

To the contrary, the Universal Monsters are the original Avengers.

 

[MrPromey]

I don't recall the vehicle doing that when I rode, but perhaps they've been toying with the programming. In fact I barely even noticed the curtain after Dracula and wondered what all the hullabaloo was about until watching a POV, because I was facing UP.


To the contrary, the Universal Monsters are the original Avengers.

Hot damn - I learned something today!

 

[Purduevian]

I get you. I just think if they devoted an entire "portal" to that, they'd have a hard time changing it down the road because they'd have to re-crash capacity with construction downtime to tear out an entire land's worth of attractions to rebuild so it feels like that approach would become a difficult thing to undo down the road.

I think Isle of Burk is the right balance of their low bar in that regards today and I'd be worried if they went any lower than that for any sort of significant expansion.

Totally understood. It took disney 23 years to close down C&H and 16 years to close down bugs land.

Maybe a better bandaid would be to add more flat rides/small rides to one of the portals but keep it as the celestial park theme?

 

[rd805]

Celestial Park flat/small ride is my idea too; hopefully with minimally issues to the beautiful area; but another covered attraction attached to the Carousel/next to would be appropriate and a nice short term fix; combo'd with a fast track whatever darkride gets cleared first. Nintendo expansion with Luigi's mansion interactive/gaming shooter seems too good to not be used and to help disperse some guests more throughout the entirety of the Nintendo area.

 

[lewisc]

How about a couple of new merchandise shops to eat crowds. BOGO promotion; but 1 get 1 at a 10% discount

 

[Andrew25]

At the moment, WDW is receiving major expansions 2 full new large lands (at MK) and two half new/half repurposed lands at DAK and DHS. I think UOR is more than capable of doing that at their parks as well.

USF - Prioritize a new E-ticket attraction at the scale of Monsters/Ministry to give the park non-screen, physical based attraction. Overhaul the park entrance to feature an aesthetic that celebrates films (and tv/media), not the creation of it (new identity for the park). Add a family-friendly dark ride to DreamWorks. Pick any IP

IOA - Prioritize a new stage show at Toon Lagoon. Park desperately needs entertainment. While I'd love Lost Continent and Toon Lagoon to be overhauled/replaced completely, I don't think it's a pressing concern over Epic Universe's capacity issues or USF's current state.

UEU - new indoor high-capacity dark ride in the plot between Monsters and SNW. I don't care what IP they chose, just be a high capacity experience for all guests. Add an additional flat ride or two throughout Celestial Park. The larger expansion pad can be touched later on.

 

[BrianLo]

I think it's funny that in 1 page on this thread I saw complaints that the park is stagnant and not getting enough attendance... but also that it's lacking capacity and needs an expansion soon.

I think the answer is somewhere in the middle. EPIC is attendance is stable, but the park is crowded. Universal probably doesn't want more guests at EPIC until all the rides are more stable.

Just an idea... I wonder if they would consider giving every EPIC universe ticket ticket a free park hopper that day... heck throw in an after 4pm express pass for the other 2 parks on your EPIC day. Basically allow anyone that is having a bad day at EPIC a chance to jump to the other 2 parks and have a great evening.

I too think there’s some generalized confusion going on. Epic doesn’t have a demand problem. UOR has a bit of a demand problem and Epic has a capacity problem.

By holding back demand at Epic (because of capacity), you are incidentally holding back UOR as a whole.

So begrudgingly Epic is the next priority. As much as that irks me, to some small extent a USF new coaster will get people in that parks door for a while.

 

[Andrew25]

I too think there’s some generalized confusion going on. Epic doesn’t have a demand problem. UOR has a bit of a demand problem and Epic has a capacity problem.

By holding back demand at Epic (because of capacity), you are incidentally holding back UOR as a whole.

So begrudgingly Epic is the next priority. As much as that irks me, to some small extent a USF new coaster will get people in that parks door for a while.

I unfortunately agree. USF, like Epcot, can thrive off of special events like HHN, Mardi Gras and the holidays.

Epic Universe needing a capacity boost is unfortunately a pressing priority.

 

[drew81]

I unfortunately agree. USF, like Epcot, can thrive off of special events like HHN, Mardi Gras and the holidays.

Epic Universe needing a capacity boost is unfortunately a pressing priority.

I am at Epic today and it’s really apparent they need capacity help. I can’t think their satisfaction surveys are getting good scores when Fyre Drill has an 80 minute wait.

 

[TalkingHead]

Bottom line is the park’s design, both the attraction menu and IP mix and match theme, is a problem without a quick fix. Arguably it’s a tougher fix than anything that’s existed at the two previous Orlando parks. It’s a mystery why the execs and designers couldn’t see this coming (or could they and hands were tied?)

 

[MisterPenguin]

Bottom line is the park’s design, both the attraction menu and IP mix and match theme, is a problem without a quick fix. Arguably it’s a tougher fix than anything that’s existed at the two previous Orlando parks. It’s a mystery why the execs and designers couldn’t see this coming (or could they and hands were tied?)

Their hands were tied when the quickly spent the extra $3B given to them to finish it.

 

[TalkingHead]

Their hands were tied when the quickly spent the extra $3B given to them to finish it.

Hadn’t checked TripAdvisor reviews before but it’s currently sporting a 2.5 star average and ranked something like the 168th best thing to do in Orlando. Considering Universal social media is replying to the reviews you have to think they expected better for $7 billion or whatever.

 

[SplashJacket]

Bottom line is the park’s design, both the attraction menu and IP mix and match theme, is a problem without a quick fix. Arguably it’s a tougher fix than anything that’s existed at the two previous Orlando parks. It’s a mystery why the execs and designers couldn’t see this coming (or could they and hands were tied?)

What are you talking about?

Stringing together vaguely negative words doesn’t form an argument.

 

[flynnibus]

What are you talking about?

Stringing together vaguely negative words doesn’t form an argument.

Seemed clear to me...

 

[AidenRodriguez731]

What are you talking about?

Stringing together vaguely negative words doesn’t form an argument.

It's a very clear sentence and there's like 2 negative words in there? What?

 

[AidenRodriguez731]

Bottom line is the park’s design, both the attraction menu and IP mix and match theme, is a problem without a quick fix. Arguably it’s a tougher fix than anything that’s existed at the two previous Orlando parks. It’s a mystery why the execs and designers couldn’t see this coming (or could they and hands were tied?)

I've been saying this for a while but I think this park was designed to be as Instagrammable/Social Media as the #1 priority. It's "epic", "grand", lots of large sweeping vistas and fun backgrounds. Good food to take pictures of and rides that could hold up to a lot of social media attention. But in the prospect of making a park so finally tuned for social media, it sort of fails to go back to being an actual amusement park... with things to do. I mean only 2/5 even have more than 2 rides, that's kinda saying something. Wizarding World is so big and grand... but did it need to be with all of those empty buildings when the park needs RIDES and attractions for capacity? It's very cool to say you made a land with proper sized buildings and super accurate to paris, but there's little to do there. That money would have been much better spent elsewhere. The park is seriously missing some B-C tickets with GREAT capacity.

Current estimates I've seen put Yoshi's at around 1,000-1,200 people per hour max capacity. HOW?? How can you have a omnimover like that with HALF the capacity of Little Mermaid and 1/3 of the capacity of HM or People Mover??? Make it make sense. That ride should have been a people sponge, barely a wait.

 

[Gusey]

Looking back at IoA's opening, The Flying Unicorn (Junior coaster) and Storm Force Acceletron (Teacups) were fast tracked, but then nothing else was added until High in the Sky Seuss Trolley opened in 2006 (7 years later). I don't think Epic needs another coaster but I could see a few flat rides/walkthroughs added. A barrel themed teacups/splash battle ride feels like an obvious choice to add to Donkey Kong area if there is space, but not sure on what small-scale attraction they could add to Potter, the land that needs attractions the most vs its size (DU is quite a small land without much space in the already existing plot to add a flat ride)

 

[The Underminer]

Epic Universe is easily the best park in Orlando.

Hilarious that it did so opening day.

All the complaints online are not reminiscent of the actual experience.

The trees will beautifully mature in Celestial Park. It is very obviously lacking shade only due to this. The YouTubers are being deliberately disingenuous.


The sightline issues are staggeringly overblown.

The food is so much better than any other theme park, it’s actually shocking.

The only park that even remotely rivals its theming is Tokyo DisneySea, and even then, it has taken 20 years to arrive to a ride line up that rivals Epic on opening day.

Rides like Monsters Unchained are the game changers we’ve needed.

But truly, the lands are the star of the show. The portal concept was brilliantly executed, and every portal is frankly better than Galaxy’s Edge to me (minus Rise).

It’s the killer park we’ve deserved as theme park fans, and I’m so thankful we live in a time where Universal and Disney’s rivalry is going to continue elevating the game exponentially.

I also have to say, the AAs everywhere in Berk reminds me of Europa Park, as well as Celestial’s fountains.

If you have any questions feel feee to ask! I’ve been to every Disney park, so I have a lot to compare to.