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

[Baloo124]

It never stops surprising me how there is a demographic of people out there who only go to theme parks to point at franchises that they know.

You see that on different sides, and it's equally sad.
-Those who only appreciate the here and now IP's, and anything over a certain number of years old is considered "irrelevant".
-Those who only appreciate what they grew up with, and anything new or not pulling on the nostalgia strings is considered "not my Disney / Universal..."

I pity those people regardless of which side of the coin their comfort zone sits on.
"A comfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing ever grows there."

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

You see that on different sides, and it's equally sad.
-Those who only appreciate the here and now IP's, and anything over a certain number of years old is considered "irrelevant".
-Those who only appreciate what they grew up with, and anything new or not pulling on the nostalgia strings is considered "not my Disney / Universal..."

I pity those people regardless of which side of the coin their comfort zone sits on.
"A comfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing ever grows there."

I think you need to add another side: Those who love the nostalgic classics and also love the newer IP's

 

[Tom Morrow]

You see that on different sides, and it's equally sad.
-Those who only appreciate the here and now IP's, and anything over a certain number of years old is considered "irrelevant".
-Those who only appreciate what they grew up with, and anything new or not pulling on the nostalgia strings is considered "not my Disney / Universal..."

I pity those people regardless of which side of the coin their comfort zone sits on.
"A comfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing ever grows there."

The second category you created is a bit of a strawman. There are plenty of people that are clamoring for "the old days", not because they hate change, but because they liked those philosophies the company once held. These people, like me, want a mix of new original experiences and IP experiences that actually fit organically in the parks and would welcome them with open arms if Disney actually bothered to do this again.

I think this is one of the reasons that Monsters Unchained is resonating with people more than any other ride at Epic - it leans much more toward being an original experience and is something you cannot find in any existing media, despite drawing inspiration from multiple IPs.

 

[drkarcher22]

I just want a Captain Cacao suspended dark ride where we explore the cosmos looking for candy.

It’ll never happen since there’s no room in the hub for it and the expansion plots are all going to be used for new portals or expanding the current ones

 

[DCBaker]

If you are headed to Epic Universe in the next week, be aware Stardust Racers is currently listed as temporarily closed through February 28:
View attachment 908569

According to an update on the Universal website, it appears the temporary closure for Stardust Racers has been extended to March 14:

 

[Andrew C]

According to an update on the Universal website, it appears the temporary closure for Stardust Racers has been extended to March 14:

View attachment 909249

uh oh. We arrive on the 15th. Getting close. Any idea what’s going on.

 

[dmc493]

Nooooo I'll be there 3/7, and never take trips to Universal so this was going to be one of the highlights of the trip.... hoping they can fix/finish things sooner

 

[Tom Morrow]

I just want a Captain Cacao suspended dark ride where we explore the cosmos looking for candy.

It’ll never happen since there’s no room in the hub for it and the expansion plots are all going to be used for new portals or expanding the current ones

It could happen if they dedicate a portion of the expansion plot between Potter and Stardust to it. However it'll probably never happen because its too hard of a sell to the shareholders.

 

[JoeCamel]

I just want a Captain Cacao suspended dark ride where we explore the cosmos looking for candy.

It’ll never happen since there’s no room in the hub for it and the expansion plots are all going to be used for new portals or expanding the current ones

But if they replaced Fallon........

 

[AidenRodriguez731]

It could happen if they dedicate a portion of the expansion plot between Potter and Stardust to it. However it'll probably never happen because its too hard of a sell to the shareholders.

Ah turns out making a non IP dark ride is pretty hard

 

[Tom Morrow]

Ah turns out making a non IP dark ride is pretty hard

Only because of the modern corporate philosophy of caring more about looking good to shareholders than giving people what they actually want.

But to add on to that, what people say they want often doesn't matter with theme park lands and attractions as long as they are good. Case in point - again, Monsters Unchained. No one was really clamoring for a ride about the classic Universal Monsters, but they did it, they did it well, and it's the most well-received attraction in the park. Meanwhile, they thought everyone wanted even more Potter, but the reception has been more along the lines of "it's fine".

And another case - Mario Kart. Everyone DID want a Mario Kart ride, but they executed it poorly and as a result it is poorly received.

Popular IP does not automatically equal well received attraction.

 

[UNCgolf]

Like @flynnibus I too seem to lack affinity for this attraction. I only nostalgically know the park from several visits before it existed and then only experienced it in 2011 when it was already a bit older.

I’d happily throw the entirety of this park on the fire, other than Diagon Alley, ET and Mummy; then maybe Bourne/transformers inside (and I don’t even like Gringotts). But to be clear it’s way way way down the list of things I think need to be dealt with. It just needs a good modernization.

I don't have any special love for it either -- I just meant in the context of this conversation it seemed like it was more about "this is something Universal might replace" rather than "Universal needs to replace this".

I have a similar opinion of USF. Mummy, ET, and Diagon Alley are great (even though Gringotts is not great). There's very little else of interest in the park. The attraction lineup 25 years ago blows away what's there now.

 

[LSLS]

Only because of the modern corporate philosophy of caring more about looking good to shareholders than giving people what they actually want.

But to add on to that, what people say they want often doesn't matter with theme park lands and attractions as long as they are good. Case in point - again, Monsters Unchained. No one was really clamoring for a ride about the classic Universal Monsters, but they did it, they did it well, and it's the most well-received attraction in the park. Meanwhile, they thought everyone wanted even more Potter, but the reception has been more along the lines of "it's fine".

And another case - Mario Kart. Everyone DID want a Mario Kart ride, but they executed it poorly and as a result it is poorly received.

Popular IP does not automatically equal well received attraction.

It'd be interesting to know how things line up with those. On first glance, the Potter ride always has 1.5 hour waits while Monsters is MUCH less. BUT, Monsters churns through about 4 times as many people every hour. I will say Monsters was one of the main reasons (along with Nintendo) I wanted to do Epic. Everyone else was excited for Potter. And everyone ended up on Monsters multiple times.

 

[mkt]

 

[AidenRodriguez731]

Guess that’s what happens when you build a theme park half done and on the cheap!

 

[LSLS]

Even at structural damage, the idea is they would just demo the entire thing? Or does that mean you won't see it in it's current form?

 

[AidenRodriguez731]

Even at structural damage, the idea is they would just demo the entire thing? Or does that mean you won't see it in it's current form?

There’s no way they just demo it and do nothing with it. They’re going to have to fix it somehow right? Unless they really really messed up and had no clue what they’re doing. That’s way too big of an investment to scrap in less than a year

 

[Andrew C]

 

[LSLS]

There’s no way they just demo it and do nothing with it. They’re going to have to fix it somehow right? Unless they really really messed up and had no clue what they’re doing. That’s way too big of an investment to scrap in less than a year

That's what I'm confused by with that tweet, it straight says "We may never see it open again."

 

[lazyboy97o]

Even at structural damage, the idea is they would just demo the entire thing? Or does that mean you won't see it in it's current form?

Yeah, this doesn’t make much sense. Steel coasters are a kit of steel tubes that can be unbolted and replaced.

Fury 325 had a support completely split back in 2023 and it’s still open. Steel Curtain reopened last year after undergoing a redesign and rebuild of its structure.

Looking at some of the tweets, I wouldn’t be surprised if the poster has some interesting thoughts on the structural qualities of steel.