PiratesMansion
Well-Known Member
Oh the park definitely needs more. I really do think that they are slowly but surely building it out, and that's been wonderful to see.
There's a certain bigness and larger-than-life vibe that I associate with Universal (even USH), and a big flashy sleek coaster that goes up and down the hill says ludicrous and crazy to me in exactly the right way. The other thing that really sets USH apart for me is the setting, and this will absolutely contribute to enhancing that from my perspective. There's definitely a way to do it correctly and integrate it well, and I have faith that current Universal will be able to pull it off.
This may be naive, as I've never seen a FATF movie, so I'm certainly not going to be the most accurate person regarding how to use FATF in a theme park. But it is a franchise based on fast cars, right? If so, I think all you really need to do is set it up as this great race/fast car/macho bro showdown/whatever, the launch is the start of the race (or more likely the race will be "kicking into a higher gear" or some such nonsense to begin the second half), and there you go. Like the Universal version of RSR. Or West Coast Racers with Corporate Branding (TM). Probably not an amazing queue though-I imagine they'd do something similar to what Orlando has for its FATF attraction.
The Orlando comparison maybe isn't helpful in a local context, but another perception as an outsider looking in is that USH is looking to do whatever it can to convince everyone-tourists and locals alike-to pay more attention to the park. Anything they can do to further that goal and grow their market share is likely on the table. Anything that might get USH closer to being like UO-which has really been a wonder for the past decade plus and a worthy alternative destination to Disney in Florida-where USH is still largely not in the same conversation with Disneyland.
Locally, I imagine they are also having to push back against the notion that the park caters to tourists more than average in the SoCal market. I remember it wasn't that long ago that the park was offering annual passes for not much more than a one-day ticket. There still aren't that many choices compared to pretty much any of the other SoCal parks. I remember posts from various SoCal locals over the years that they pretty much only went there when people came from out of town, as they felt it either wasn't repeatable or just wasn't a good enough value for the money. It seems like you visit the park a fair amount, but do you feel there are a lot of other people who are local and do the same? Maybe the visitor demographic shift is already underway, but it wasn't that long ago that it seemed like most locals either weren't going or weren't talking about it much. At any rate, more attractions, and flashy, eye-catching attractions at that will help USH grow the local market in addition to the tourists. Sometimes the right coaster is just the ticket to set off explosive growth, and I could see such this one, in conjunction with Potter and SNW, being an underrated player in making this all come to fruition.
If nothing else, a great coaster that people want to ride over and over again is something that pretty much every other SoCal park has that USH lacks.
The park needs more family rides for sure. The problem is that family isn't really Universal's brand, and they have yet to find a satisfactory way to integrate it into the parks in any meaningful way. Even when they do something that should be a home run they find a way to muck it up (see: SLOP restraints). That's one problem area I'm not entirely sure how to solve.
