Al Lutz: Carsland for WDW, FLE not Bringing in Guests

rle4lunch

rle4lunch

Well-Known Member
And don't forget about that turdrific live action Sinbad show. Good Lord, that's worse than the fake hypnotist at Magic Mountain. Appallingly bad.

I said Uni is getting better. But it hasn't impressed me at all except for HP, for theming. It doesn't bring you into their universe like Disney (on either coast) does. Sorry.
 
Californian Elitist

Californian Elitist

Well-Known Member
rle4lunch said:
I said Uni is getting better. But it hasn't impressed me at all except for HP, for theming. It doesn't bring you into their universe like Disney (on either coast) does. Sorry.
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I haven't been to USO yet, but I don't see how one can't be brought into Universal's world in Hollywood, since you're on the one hundred year old studio lot. You're actually on the sets of many different movies and television shows. Can't get any more immersive than that. The rest of the park aesthetically looks great to me, especially the old Western town (which even looks better than Frontierland to me) and the London section.
 
Disneyhead'71

Disneyhead'71

Well-Known Member
rle4lunch said:
And don't forget about that turdrific live action Sinbad show. Good Lord, that's worse than the fake hypnotist at Magic Mountain. Appallingly bad.

I said Uni is getting better. But it hasn't impressed me at all except for HP, for theming. It doesn't bring you into their universe like Disney (on either coast) does. Sorry.
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Cinderellabration is no better than Sindbad's and let's not forget the classic Stitch's Supersonic Celebration. Fortunately they killed Stitch, but the turd (stage) he left in the middle of Tomorrowland is there to remind us of his stench.
 
bubbles1812

bubbles1812

Well-Known Member
rle4lunch said:
On the contrary, I grew up going to WDW nearly every year of my lfe. I never experienced DL until I was 30 years old, when I got stationed out here. I was also in the 'hate DL box' for no reason, like many people that live out east. I found that to be so baseless, I'm almost embarrased by my previous thought processes about DL. I've been to Universal twice, and the rides are great. REread my post. I said the lands aren't engrossing, not the rides. The rides are pretty great. Some really great. As for the theming, it equals Six Flags ish' territory.

You should really invest in a 'jump to conclusions mat', since you're so good at it. I don't fight on these boards, because that is just dumb. Just respect my opinion, and I'll respect yours. thx.
and grow up a bit.
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That you classify the lands as in six flags territory still makes me question whether you've actually been to universal and for that matter six flags. I stand by what I said. I wasnt even trying to pick a fight nor am i now. But I find your assertions About universal laughable. It's pretty obvious where you stand.
 
rle4lunch

rle4lunch

Well-Known Member
bubbles1812 said:
That you classify the lands as in six flags territory still makes me question whether you've actually been to universal and for that matter six flags. I stand by what I said. I wasnt even trying to pick a fight nor am i now. But I find your assertions About universal laughable. It's pretty obvious where you stand.
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yeah, I'm on a Disney board, not a Uni board. If I want good adrenaline rides, I'll go to Uni, Cedar Point, Magic Mountain, Paramout, etc. I don't go there for the atmosphere. It hasn't been until the last few years that Uni has even cared about it for that matter.

As for Uni Hollywood, I'm heading there this weekend. It's fun and all, and the backlot is what it is (history), but it's not a 5 day vacation desitination like WDW, or a 3 day vacation destination like DL, it's a 1 day, meh, that was 'fun to do every 5-6 years' destination. UNO fits in that too. They're ace in the hole is HP. When I was at UNO 2 months ago at Christmastime, every ride in the park EXCEPT HP, was empty. I walked on everything. Everything. The only thing that was bringing people in was HP, because it's UNO's game changer. People could care less about the rest of the park.
 
R

RandySavage

Well-Known Member
As a themed-environment, IoA was and remains brilliantly-designed/executed. Many areas, even before Potter arrived, are certainly in the same league as the best of Disney. I have great admiration for the people that created the park. Overall, Disney pays more attention to backstage views and naked coasters, but IoA is among a handful of Tier I parks.

One thing that frustrates about IoA, though, is on the operations/merchandising side. Operations has this incredible, beautiful canvas to work with, but there is a noticeable tendency of putting up a lot of jarring, out-of-theme, unnecessary ads/banners (e.g. "Universal Express" or "BBQ Ribs and Salads Here"). http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockgod5150/5432361772/sizes/z/in/photostream/, or pushing merchandise racks out onto the streets, or setting up cheap boardwalk-style booths, or allowing a standard mall restaurant get full signage (Cinnabon). The goal of a Theme Park is Escapism, but when they become too overtly commercial, that goal is undermined. In ways, Disney is increasingly guilty of the same. An analogy might be visiting a website with tons of unrelated sidebar and pop-up ads versus one with little to no ads.

Hogmsmeade works so well because all of the Commercialism is done in-theme - the merch/food can & should become an attraction in itself. Port of Entry - one of the finest examples of themed design in existence - would work so much better if, operationally, it took the exact same approach as Hogsmeade (restrained/in-theme/unique characters/no banners shouting "Uni Express" etc.) as it did in the early years. Same with JP: Strip away all ad-on banners and cheap revenue-source drop-ins and it becomes a much more enjoyable, interesting, transporting environment.
 
bubbles1812

bubbles1812

Well-Known Member
rle4lunch said:
yeah, I'm on a Disney board, not a Uni board. If I want good adrenaline rides, I'll go to Uni, Cedar Point, Magic Mountain, Paramout, etc. I don't go there for the atmosphere. It hasn't been until the last few years that Uni has even cared about it for that matter.

As for Uni Hollywood, I'm heading there this weekend. It's fun and all, and the backlot is what it is (history), but it's not a 5 day vacation desitination like WDW, or a 3 day vacation destination like DL, it's a 1 day, meh, that was 'fun to do every 5-6 years' destination. UNO fits in that too. They're ace in the hole is HP. When I was at UNO 2 months ago at Christmastime, every ride in the park EXCEPT HP, was empty. I walked on everything. Everything. The only thing that was bringing people in was HP, because it's UNO's game changer. People could care less about the rest of the park.
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Surrrree... Keep telling yourself that. That's why when I went to Disney and Universal this weekend many of the guests I talked to were saying they had taken two days out of their Disney vacations to go play at Universal. I saw plenty in the Universal part.. And that side doesn't even have HP yet. But they sure seemed to like the minions ride, mummy, Simpsons, ect. Obviously Potter is a draw, but its not the only draw and once people experience the rest of what the park has to offer, HP isn't the only reason they keep coming back. Read the posts on here for perfect examples. But we get it. Universal bad. Disney good. Like I said, it's obvious where you stand
 
rle4lunch

rle4lunch

Well-Known Member
WDWGoof07 said:
I know what you mean, man. I can't believe I paid good money for this on my last trip. I could have gotten this at my local Six Flags and saved a bunch of money on airfare.
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Where's that shop that sells the stale bagels? Right before the turn into that part of the park. Moon bakery or whatever. lol..

nice pics. I've got some from that angle too. I never said I didn't like Uni. man you guys are so on edge.
 
rle4lunch

rle4lunch

Well-Known Member
bubbles1812 said:
Surrrree... Keep telling yourself that. That's why when I went to Disney and Universal this weekend many of the guests I talked to were saying they had taken two days out of their Disney vacations to go play at Universal. I saw plenty in the Universal part.. And that side doesn't even have HP yet. But they sure seemed to like the minions ride, mummy, Simpsons, ect. Obviously Potter is a draw, but its not the only draw and once people experience the rest of what the park has to offer, HP isn't the only reason they keep coming back. Read the posts on here for perfect examples. But we get it. Universal bad. Disney good. Like I said, it's obvious where you stand
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That's what I took away from my visit. I'm not a Florida local, and I'm only a temp vistor in California. I see the same local types at DL as I saw at IOA. All the out of towners went to HP, while the locals hit up the other rides. Why would I fabricate any of this? I could care less about loyalty to any park. I'm telling you this from an outsiders (real persons) view of things, not from someone who visits 15 times a year to both parks and then comes on here to nitpick what color the bathroom urinal cakes are. This is my experience. This was my families experience. there is no bias or malice one way or another.
 
Disneyhead'71

Disneyhead'71

Well-Known Member
RandySavage said:
As a themed-environment, IoA was and remains brilliantly-designed/executed. Many areas, even before Potter arrived, are certainly in the same league as the best of Disney. I have great admiration for the people that created the park. Overall, Disney pays more attention to backstage views and naked coasters, but IoA is among a handful of Tier I parks.

One thing that frustrates about IoA, though, is on the operations/merchandising side. Operations has this incredible, beautiful canvas to work with, but there is a noticeable tendency of putting up a lot of jarring, out-of-theme, unnecessary ads/banners (e.g. "Universal Express" or "BBQ Ribs and Salads Here"). http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockgod5150/5432361772/sizes/z/in/photostream/, or pushing merchandise racks out onto the streets, or setting up cheap boardwalk-style booths, or allowing a standard mall restaurant get full signage (Cinnabon). The goal of a Theme Park is Escapism, but when they become too overtly commercial, that goal is undermined. In ways, Disney is increasingly guilty of the same. An analogy might be visiting a website with tons of unrelated sidebar and pop-up ads versus one with little to no ads.

Hogmsmeade works so well because all of the Commercialism is done in-theme - the merch/food can & should become an attraction in itself. Port of Entry - one of the finest examples of themed design in existence - would work so much better if, operationally, it took the exact same approach as Hogsmeade (restrained/in-theme/unique characters/no banners shouting "Uni Express" etc.) as it did in the early years. Same with JP: Strip away all ad-on banners and cheap revenue-source drop-ins and it becomes a much more enjoyable, interesting, transporting environment.
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You mean like this:

DVC_kiosk.JPG


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mcdonalds-fry-cart.jpg


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yoamd_studios2008.jpg
 
bubbles1812

bubbles1812

Well-Known Member
rle4lunch said:
That's what I took away from my visit. I'm not a Florida local, and I'm only a temp vistor in California. I see the same local types at DL as I saw at IOA. All the out of towners went to HP, while the locals hit up the other rides. Why would I fabricate any of this? I could care less about loyalty to any park. I'm telling you this from an outsiders (real persons) view of things, not from someone who visits 15 times a year to both parks and then comes on here to nitpick what color the bathroom urinal cakes are. This is my experience. This was my families experience. there is no bias or malice one way or another.
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That's just it. You seem to be claiming that mostly local types are going to the other universal rides. And it's simply not true. Plus you seem to be saying that HP is the only draw for "out of towners." yes it is a draw but it is ridiculous that you seem to indicate it is the only one. Do you realize how many families I met with little boys wanting to see super hero land? Or something like the Simpsons? By your own admission you've only been there twice. I don't find your experience very congruent with other reports on here or in general. Sorry.
 

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