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

[Andrew C]

Interesting, but they really should do Luigi's Mansion first.

If they don’t, I’m quitting theme parks forever.

 

[Andrew C]

Maybe ghostbusters replacing rip before anything else…

 

[FoodRockz]

Interesting, but they really should do Luigi's Mansion first.

If they don’t, I’m quitting theme parks forever.

Have you both played the Luigi's Mansion arcade game before? It's like you're Luigi....vacuuming ghosts!

 

[lazyboy97o]

I’m not saying I disagree but was hoping you could expand a bit because I thought “stuff” —as in the corporal/tangible/3D—-is what counts when we’re talking about park details and themes

I won’t deny that it is what many focus on, and I’d say the same to them as well. The tangible objects are but one expression of the theme. They are part of telling the story but not the only way it is told in strong themed experiences. The form and shape of space are part of the experience and that extends to things like sightlines. A bunch of stuff being glued on to a building, no matter how intricate or ornate, doesn’t negate the backside of another building looming overhead. Themed entertainment is discussed in terms like immersive and not just decor because it is about the totality of the design, not just one aspect that can easily be quantified.

 

[lazyboy97o]

But we should remember there's more to thematic immersion than physically creating sense of place, and I can't think of a land that better proves this point than Galaxy's Edge. Yeah, it looks convincing enough as a location in the Star Wars universe, if you ignore the fact that there's no life to it. It doesn't feel lived-in like the Wizarding World lands do, for example. It feels... like a section of a theme park designed to make money, but based on a portion of an otherwise beloved franchise that no one actually likes.

Galaxy’s Edge has many flaws, from its poor organization to just choosing Star Wars in the first place. But they absolutely committed to the immersion.

 

[DarkMetroid567]

I’m not really sure what is supposedly innately wrong with Galaxy’s Edge besides the lack of kinetic energy — its immersion is top notch and it has a great sense of exploration (and actually feels sizable, unlike most of Epic’s lands).

But it’s not lost on me that most modern theme park critique is rating a land on the Kinetic Energy Scale, lol.

 

[Disney Analyst]

Is it? Sure, they could try adding some more walkaround characters or other, smaller details to help with kinetics, but is that going to be nearly enough? You're not actually making the land more interesting, even to the built-in fanbase it's targeting, without a major overhaul.

I think the perceived failings of Galaxy’s Edge are overstated. We visited last summer for the first time, and loved the area. Was my partners favourite place at Disneyland to spend time.

Add more droids, characters, creatures, an alien band or buskers, stunt show or other entertainment on the various stages and platforms… it would fix most the issues of it feeling barren.

Oh and music. Just infuse the iconic music. It will make all the difference.

 

[Andrew C]

I’m not really sure what is supposedly innately wrong with Galaxy’s Edge besides the lack of kinetic energy — its immersion is top notch and it has a great sense of exploration (and actually feels sizable, unlike most of Epic’s lands).

But it’s not lost on me that most modern theme park critique is rating a land on the Kinetic Energy Scale, lol.

Looks cool. I’m a fan of rise. Just not much going on. Which kinda ruins the immersion. How can you be immersed in a place that feels dead?

 

[Jayspency]

Is it? Sure, they could try adding some more walkaround characters or other, smaller details to help with kinetics, but is that going to be nearly enough? You're not actually making the land more interesting, even to the built-in fanbase it's targeting, without a major overhaul.

The land is already pretty interesting outside the fact that there isn't much kinetics to the land. The land looks really cool from a visuals standpoint, with attention to detail everywhere you look much like Epic's lands. A retheme to the original trilogy is something I think many of us, myself included would really like to see, but that would only really apply to the rides, since Batuu is an original planet and can make sense in the OG trilogy's time period. What GE truly needs is just some quality of life adjustments. (Walk around characters, kinetics, etc).

 

[Agent H]

This thread: Rating EU on a scale of one to ten.

Only you're not allowed to use the numbers two through nine.

I’d give it an 8.

 

[Agent H]

I will continue to stand up for galaxies edge as one of the best modern day theme park lands. Does it need more kinetic energy and live entertainment? 100 percent. But that doesn’t make the land a waste. Especially when it houses one of the best rides in Disney world.

 

[build_it]

Sadly, Galaxies Edge uses a large amount of space, and misses the mark. It’s ignores the biggest drivers of Star Wars and key original characters. As a person that loves the original trilogy but hasn’t invested in the newer offerings, it’s a waste. It may be cool for younger fans, that didn’t grow up with just the trilogy, but they really messed up by trying to be too immersive. If you go into a Star Wars land, you should see all the characters regardless of timeline. Want that, you have to go outside of Galaxies Edge to Star Tours. What a joke.
For the amount of money and space they used, there should be more attractions and a full blown Cantina with animatronic band.
It does delivery a cool ride and some fun experiences, but it comes up short IMHO.

 

[JoeCamel]

And we've reached the star bores portion of the Epic Universe thread....

 

[Baloo124]

Interesting, but they really should do Luigi's Mansion first.

If this is a hint at what's to come, which is very probable, then those who mocked your earlier post about a bank analyst predicting Wicked coming to EU in the future are going to feel real silly... wait... *checks posting history in this thread*

...ok, well the OTHER people should feel silly. I knew all along there was some truth to the rumor. Honest.

 

[MrPromey]

I’m not really sure what is supposedly innately wrong with Galaxy’s Edge besides the lack of kinetic energy — its immersion is top notch and it has a great sense of exploration (and actually feels sizable, unlike most of Epic’s lands).

But it’s not lost on me that most modern theme park critique is rating a land on the Kinetic Energy Scale, lol.

To me, GE feels more like a backlot with a couple of attractions on one side than a themed land.

There's lots of buildings and static stuff taking up space but there's nothing going on with most of it. There's really nothing to do but walk past most of what's there. I feel like they could have saved at least 1/3 of that space for something else, even if it meant not being able to tout it as the largest expansion in their history.

The comparisons of GE and Berk seem silly to me because out of all the lands in Epic, that is the one meant least to compete with something like GE, which itself was meant to compete with Potter. For a similarly intended audience, the easiest comparison seems to be TSL. (funny enough, both have coasters with bad views, too)

I think the only takeaway is why couldn't Disney do with droids what Universal did with dragons? The droids even have advantages: Much easier to build and maintain with incredibly basic articulation and internal access points for maintenance that don't even need to be hidden, easier to use weatherproof and weather resistant materials on and the ability to use blinking lights as a cheap way to make them look real. A $10 off-the-shelf sensor could have been used to make a few of them stare guests down without having to expect much more out of them since they're only intended to be robots to begin with. Best of all, when they break and only partially function, they still look and act like real droids so it's not immersion breaking the way a dragon with a weird lazy eye or a mouth that doesn't open would be.

Instead, they've opted for a small number of cute little expensive and over-engineered wonders that have to be puppeteered, run on batteries and will have limited interaction time with guests. Like Muppet Mobile Lab - really cool but something many park guests will never end up experiencing outside of youtube.

 

[lewisc]

Universal wants to spread guests over 3 parks. Putting Zelda in the Lost Continent instead of EPIC makes sense.

 

[Jrb1979]

You’ve answered your own conspiracy. Has everyone forgotten the Volcano Bay bruh-haha? The general public is exceedingly reactive to excessive wait times.

This is not an indictment on the parks quality. It also isn’t likely fake based on the operations we are seeing out of Epic. I highly suspect the North American general public wouldn’t tolerate Tokyo Disney Sea or USJ in the last year.

It's funny how Universal and Disney GP whine about waiting in lines. Yet you rarely see complaints about long waits at parks like Dollywood. Part of me wishes all the skip the line passes never existed. Go back to everyone waiting in Standby. 2 hour waits for everyone

 

[lazyboy97o]

It's funny how Universal and Disney GP whine about waiting in lines. Yet you rarely see complaints about long waits at parks like Dollywood. Part of me wishes all the skip the line passes never existed. Go back to everyone waiting in Standby. 2 hour waits for everyone

Because those parks have a higher average attractions per guest per hour. They don’t consistently have hour plus long waits unless you go on the busiest days.

 

[Jrb1979]

Because those parks have a higher average attractions per guest per hour. They don’t consistently have hour plus long waits unless you go on the busiest days.

Some of the major regional parks do have 90 minute to 2 hour waits for the top coasters every day.

 

[Dranth]

• MGM: underbuilt
• AK: underbuilt
• DCA: Hot mess and underbuilt
• EuroDisney: Hot mess
• Disney Studios: Hot mess and underbuilt
• Hong Kong: Underbuilt

That is the Eisner Special. Underbuilt, half day messes.