4th Gate General (Rumors/News/Speculation)

[HauntedMansionFLA]

Here is a nugget.

There will be no kind of monorail.
There will be no kind of monorail.
There will be no kind of monorail.

Anyone saying anything like that is uninformed, trolling or outright lying.

What you could see is two more parks, a theme park and another water park with up to five more resorts including another value resort in all that new land, right off Universal Blvd.

Five parks would make Uni a week long vacation destination, which is more of a short term goal than one might think.

Jimmy Thick- Star Wars land will have competition and we all win.

What could top Star Wars Land???.

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

Wouldn't an entirely new state of the art theme park with hotels and an entertainment district be able to top or at the very least equal a singular land with two rides?
I love Star Wars but if I had to pick one or the other, it's a little bit of a no brainer. If it was a legoland or Busch gardens or six flags new park, of course not. But this is universal- the gold standard of new attractions and theme parks the past 6 years or so domestically. I'm completely geeked to see what they come up with and what their anchor attractions are going to be.

I didn't think of it in that way. I guess I was thinking the old ways of doing things of an IP with a land around it. It would be genius to have the theme park, hotels and entertainment tied into together. It would allow the guest to relax and enjoy the experience instead of wasting time traveling to another area of entertainment. Hopefully more details come out. I'm curious to see the new Volcano Theme Theme Water Park turns out. Could be a game changer.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

After VB opens, UOR will be the only major domestic destination theme park resort with a major water park within walking distance of most of their hotel rooms.

 

[rawisericho]

Wouldn't an entirely new state of the art theme park with hotels and an entertainment district be able to top or at the very least equal a singular land with two rides?
I love Star Wars but if I had to pick one or the other, it's a little bit of a no brainer. If it was a legoland or Busch gardens or six flags new park, of course not. But this is universal- the gold standard of new attractions and theme parks the past 6 years or so domestically. I'm completely geeked to see what they come up with and what their anchor attractions are going to be.

Did you ride Kong?

 

[cheezbat]

I'm sorry but to me Universal only had one BIG thing in the past 6 years and that was Harry Potter. To me King Kong was a pretty bad attraction, it actually seemed like something of a road side attraction. And as well, I'm not that excited for Volcano Bay either, if you just compare the maps of the two disney parks you notice how unthemed volcano bay will be, which it could be a wonderful water park, but not a "Theme Park." As well, The universal rides seems to follow a formula that's getting old, too many screens, falling but catched at the last moment, falling from a building ect. Disney has its issues with not enough attractions in its parks, but Universals problem is its the same rides, just a different ip, all the rides follow the same cliches, and are just plain screens. Oh and dont get me started about fast and furious, ugh the one in hollywood is laughable

While I agree that Universal relies on screens and 3-D a bit too much lately, I completely disagree with the Volcano Bay comment. That park looks easily as good thematically as the Disney water parks, but I think their attractions will make it even better...not to mention the possibilities for future attractions.

 

[JT3000]

I'm sorry but to me Universal only had one BIG thing in the past 6 years and that was Harry Potter.

Using your standard for "big," Harry Potter is the only big project(s) to open in any Central Florida theme park in the past 6 years. But I think you'll find that most would disagree with this assertion.

To me King Kong was a pretty bad attraction, it actually seemed like something of a road side attraction.

Ahh yes, those kitschy road side attractions that contain hundreds of millions of dollars worth of theming & advanced ride technology. I love those. Always wondered why there were so few though...

And as well, I'm not that excited for Volcano Bay either, if you just compare the maps of the two disney parks you notice how unthemed volcano bay will be

I too enjoy comparing park theming based on maps. In fact, sometimes I daydream while staring at a park map and, wow, it's like I've actually been there! I've saved a lot of money and effort required to get off the couch this way.

The universal rides seems to follow a formula that's getting old, too many screens, falling but catched at the last moment, falling from a building ect. Disney has its issues with not enough attractions in its parks, but Universals problem is its the same rides, just a different ip, all the rides follow the same cliches, and are just plain screens.

Yes, Universal's rides utilize a number of screens. One could argue too many. But no, this does not make them all the same ride or "just plain screens."

Oh and dont get me started about fast and furious

You mean that currently under construction ride no one has been on and we know very little about because it's not a clone of Hollywood's?

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

Universal has added hotels and City Walk has changed out some places. Potter was a big addition. I haven't been on Kong yet so I will have to see for myself. I do agree Universal needs to get off the screen kick they are on, too much of anything isn't good. I don't why F+F isn't some sort of a roller coaster, it fits the movies great and from what everyone has said the Hollywood version of F+F is bad. F+F could be a roller coaster that goes through back alleys, parking lots, industry site whatever and it would all fit the movies. They should have done something along those lines.

Any way you do it Universal has up their game a lot over all in the past 5-6 years. They better keep going because Disney seems to want to actually do something about filling up their parks lately. Doesn't matter, win win situation going on in Orlando right now.

Why doesn't Universal update the Jurassic Park area with the success of Jurassic World and more movies coming our way? Will they bring more Potter? They have a lot of new IP's coming our way. How many hotel rooms will they have on site that's close to the parks?

 

[JT3000]

Why doesn't Universal update the Jurassic Park area with the success of Jurassic World and more movies coming our way?

They were going to. Then they chose Kong instead.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

I understand that Volcano bay is still being built, but the map Universal gave just totally sucks. the two disney water park maps i provided just scream "MAGICAL" to me. the Volcano Bay map looks so dull and unthemed. They totally should have taken the idea of laying the water park up hill, like the two Disney water parks to provide a much more realistic mountain as well it would of given the advantage of being able to properly themed the slides into the mountain.
CGI verison of Volcano Bay:

Artwork of Blizzard beach.

Once again the artwork of Volcano bay compared to Blizzard beach gives an obvious winner of which is themed better. I'm not trying to hate on Universal nor wish they fail, but i believe volcano bay will be much less themed than the Disney water parks, which is not saying it will be a bad water park entirely, i believe it will be a great water park, but a bad water theme park.

The illustration of Volcano Bay isn't a park map. It is from an overview illustration of the entire resort. Here is the entire image.

It is very much like this one.

How much can you tell about Typhoon Lagoon from that pic? Volcano Bay will be the best water park in Orlando when it opens.

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

There is enough Potter for me, they don't need more.

I agree. They have the rights to Nintendo, bought Dreamworks and have the rights to a lot of classic cartoons like Frosty and Rudolph. And you always hear the rumblings of Lord of the Rings.

 

[Mike S]

There is enough Potter for me, they don't need more.

I agree. They have the rights to Nintendo, bought Dreamworks and have the rights to a lot of classic cartoons like Frosty and Rudolph. And you always hear the rumblings of Lord of the Rings.

The only "more Potter" I'd fully get behind is whatever that rumor was of a replacement for Dragon Challenge. The land can not be used for anything else so go for it Uni.

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

The only "more Potter" I'd fully get behind is whatever that rumor was of a replacement for Dragon Challenge. The land can not be used for anything else so go for it Uni.[/QUOTE
Ministry of Magic?

 

[andysol]

Did you ride Kong?

Ya- I enjoyed it quite a bit. Did you ride Frozen Ever After? They both took the same amount of time to complete, but the difference is one is just a convoluted layover of a previous attraction while the other adds immense capacity and is an entirely new attraction. You don't have to enjoy Kong- but it's not like they ripped out the Mummy and put it in it's place. Its a net gain to the resort overall.

I'm sorry but to me Universal only had one BIG thing in the past 6 years and that was Harry Potter. To me King Kong was a pretty bad attraction, it actually seemed like something of a road side attraction. And as well, I'm not that excited for Volcano Bay either, if you just compare the maps of the two disney parks you notice how unthemed volcano bay will be, which it could be a wonderful water park, but not a "Theme Park."

Where to start....
First, let's go ahead and discredit the 2 biggest projects Orlando has seen in the last 6 years off as a whim to try to make it sound like Universal isn't doing anything. Guess what- you can't just throw HP to the side, it's the best thing any park in the US has, bar none.

Just in those 6 years- here is the list of new attractions that were't Harry Potter, and when you compare it to Disney, it's hilarious.
-Spiderman Upgrade, Reign of Kong, Incredible Hulk Rebuild, Transformers, Simpson's land built w/ shops, restaurants and Twirl n' Hurl. 3 new rides, 2 massive redos, and a new land- and that's in addition to the 3 entirely new rides, 2 massive lands, and 2 ride rethemes of HP. That's not big? Again- 6 new rides, 3 new lands, 4 ride redo/rethemes in just 6 (actually 5) years. That's freakin mammoth, man.
2 Brand new hotels on property that constantly sell out and over doubled their on-site capacity isn't big?
A ridiculous water park that is walking distance and On-site to all their resorts/properties isn't big? This will be the #1 water park attendance in the United States in 2018- passing both TL and BB- there's not doubt- simply based on location alone. But that's not big?
Kong a roadside attraction- I'm guessing you haven't ridden it? The queue itself is awesome. You can dislike the ride, but to call it a roadside attraction is comical. The screens are massive and the individual wheel hydraulics are pretty incredible in their own right- just from a technical standpoint- it's pretty damn impressive.

Comparing the two maps? What a joke... Just drive by Volcano Bay- it's freakin ludicrous the size of that Volcano. You can actually see it from the Epcot Hotels- and when it will eventually light up at night and erupt red "volcano" water that you can see from within WDW's resorts- that's pretty epic. But of course, the resort map doesn't look as good as TL's park map- so it must not be as good.
Listen to yourself...

I'm not trying to hate on Universal

Right....


The bottom line is Universal is building and expanding at a rate that is reminiscent of the greatest era in WDW history- the Disney Decade. And that shouldn't be tossed aside. They are now the trend setter, and Disney is trying to follow their lead- not the other way around.

 

[JoeCamel]

Uh excuse me, but Walt Disney World is about to open up one of the most expensive lands ever in theme park history this next summer, as well as in a few years debuting star wars land, along the way they will be opening Toy Story Land, getting new night time entertainment, and new rides in all parks. What Universal has been doing will and has been catching up to them, using the same ride ideas and screens just makes the parks boring. I for one am willing to admit i love both the harry potter areas and Spiderman, but the rest of universal to me lacks anything really good. However i must say Hollywood Studios seems to be going in the same direction as Universal, with the majority of rides being screen based.

Expensive = Good.
12.99 for burger = Good
750 rack at GF = Good

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

The illustration of Volcano Bay isn't a park map. It is from an overview illustration of the entire resort. Here is the entire image.

It is very much like this one.

How much can you tell about Typhoon Lagoon from that pic? Volcano Bay will be the best water park in Orlando when it opens.

Never been to Universal but hopefully soon. I would love to have two theme parks and water theme park close by the hotels to make the travel to each area quick.

 

[matt clark]

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/busi...ersal-orlando-theme-parks-20161031-story.html

its universal.. so im sure they will win.

 

[seascape]

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/busi...ersal-orlando-theme-parks-20161031-story.html

its universal.. so im sure they will win.

Easy work around. Tear down the parking garages and build the 4th gate there. Build new garages and hotels on the new property and bus the guests in.

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

Easy work around. Tear down the parking garages and build the 4th gate there. Build new garages and hotels on the new property and bus the guests in.

Monorail, peoplemover - anything but bus transpiration. Could parking garages be built by the resorts? I guess if you stay off property they could be bussed up?

 

[JT3000]

Easy work around. Tear down the parking garages and build the 4th gate there. Build new garages and hotels on the new property and bus the guests in.

Eww. What do you think this is, WDW?

 

[Disneyhead'71]

From Bioreconstruct

I don't have any concerns about the level of theming that Universal Creative is bringing to this project.