Epic Universe vs Magic Kingdom

[Vegas Disney Fan]

The thread topic asks which is the better park, but your opening post asks a completely different question, where would we go if we only had one day in Orlando.

to this.

I didn’t answer the poll because I haven’t been to Epic yet and can’t compare them… but if I only had one day in Orlando right now I’d be going to Epic, I can’t think of anything at MK that has changed (for the better) since I was there a couple years ago, nothing that would convince me to go there over experiencing a brand new park anyway.

 

[Stripes]

to this.

I didn’t answer the poll because I haven’t been to Epic yet and can’t compare them… but if I only had one day in Orlando right now I’d be going to Epic, I can’t think of anything at MK that has changed (for the better) since I was there a couple years ago, nothing that would convince me to go there over experiencing a brand new park anyway.

Just make sure you pay attention to the wind direction on the day you go. You don’t want to spend nearly $190 a person to smell the nearby sewer facility all-day. Trust me.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

Just make sure you pay attention to the wind direction on the day you go. You don’t want to spend nearly $190 a person to smell the nearby sewer facility all-day. Trust me.

Good to know, I always laughed during the RunDisney Marathon we’d run right past the treatment plant near AK, nothing like a horrible smell half way through a full to make you second guess your life choices, I’ve never smelled it inside AK at least.

They’re a necessary evil but not something you want to experience more than you absolutely have to.

 

[JT3000]

Yes, you are being digitized into a computer. The outdoor portion of track is literally called the “upload conduit.” You are being uploaded into The Grid. The building is “The Grid” and therefore it is within the story of the attraction. That’s why it is shown on the official park map. Does it make the building less of an eyesore? No, and as I said, they should just close the shortcut path that relatively few guests utilize anyway and plant some trees. But, nonetheless, the building is “in-story.”

You claim Disney is just as bad, but the man that green-lit Tron at MK was given the boot, if you recall. Meanwhile, current Disney is building a 4 acre attraction with 360 degrees of theming around the entire attraction. When Universal comes anywhere close to pulling that off, you let me know.

Universal's already done that.

As you can see, it too looks like a "computer."

 

[Stripes]

Universal's already done that.

As you can see, it too looks like a "computer."

Wow, I didn’t realize Transformers was a 4 acre attraction. Good to know! /s

 

[Stripes]

Good to know, I always laughed during the RunDisney Marathon we’d run right past the treatment plant near AK, nothing like a horrible smell half way through a full to make you second guess your life choices, I’ve never smelled it inside AK at least.

They’re a necessary evil but not something you want to experience more than you absolutely have to.

Yeah, I used smell it while driving on Western Way. Now, I just turn on inside air for the AC when I’m on Western Way.

I imagine the difference is just the distance between the plants and the parks. At Epic, the plant is directly adjacent to the park whereas for DAK the plant is roughly 4,000 feet away from Rafiki’s Plant Watch, the nearest point in the park.

 

[earlthesquirrellover23]

That walkway should never have been built. It’s used by a fraction of guests. I’ve only walked it a single time in all of my visits. Nonetheless, TRON is an eyesore, but the show building is not technically backstage as it is supposed to represent a computer.

I've never seen a computer that looks like that, but that is a convenient excuse!

So, more water bottle fillers and new restrooms. I guess we have different priorities.

I mean yeah, when it's 90 degrees out and there's 30,000 people in MK it's a bit annoying that the only cold water you can get you either have to pay for or get from small cups that are mostly filled with ice, especially when this isn't a problem at any other park in Orlando. It definitely affects my enjoyment of being in MK a lot and this type of stuff changes my enjoyment of being in an park way more than something like a back of house show building being visible from a certain angle.

You claim Disney is just as bad, but the man that green-lit Tron at MK was given the boot, if you recall. Meanwhile, current Disney is building a 4 acre attraction with 360 degrees of theming around the entire attraction. When Universal comes anywhere close to pulling that off, you let me know.

 

[Stripes]

I've never seen a computer that looks like that, but that is a convenient excuse!

The building is supposed to be “The Grid.” Hence the tiles that surround the building in a grid-like pattern.

The Grid of course lies within a computer and computer data centers look like this:

I mean yeah, when it's 90 degrees out and there's 30,000 people in MK it's a bit annoying that the only cold water you can get you either have to pay for or get from small cups that are mostly filled with ice, especially when this isn't a problem at any other park in Orlando. It definitely affects my enjoyment of being in MK a lot and this type of stuff changes my enjoyment of being in an park way more than something like a back of house show building being visible from a certain angle.

It’s never been a problem for me. There’s a bottle filler in Fantasyland, btw.

If you want ice cold, grab a cup of “mostly ice” water from a quick service, pour it into your tumbler, and fill it up at a bottle filler station.

A decent trade-off versus smelling sewage all-day, wouldn’t you say? Especially considering Disney is adding more bottle fillers on a regular basis.

Yoshi is about 0.6 acres. We’re talking about something about 8 times bigger. Not to mention, it’s not actually themed 360. The maintenance building for Yoshi is a backstage unthemed warehouse. I’m talking about an attraction you’ll be able to walk around on all sides that is 100% themed, including the maintenance building.

 

[JT3000]

The building is supposed to be “The Grid.” Hence the tiles that surround the building in a grid-like pattern.

The Grid of course lies within a computer and computer data centers look like this:

View attachment 886930

This is is the part where I would typically laugh, if you weren't being 100% serious.

I might still laugh anyway. We'll see.

Wow, I didn’t realize Transformers was a 4 acre attraction. Good to know! /s

I didn't realize it mattered. I figured you would be satisfied enough by its show buil... I mean... computer-like appearance.

 

[Stripes]

This is is the part where I would typically laugh, if you weren't being 100% serious.

I might still laugh anyway. We'll see.


I didn't realize it mattered. I figured you would be satisfied enough by its show buil... I mean... computer-like appearance.

Have I not made clear that I think both are hideous eyesores?

Just because the TRON building is “onstage” and within the story of the attraction doesn’t mean it’s not absolutely hideous. Same for Transformers.

Again, the guy that approved TRON was fired from Disney and the creative lead for the TRON at MK project left WDI to go work for UC on Epic Universe.

Meanwhile, all of Disney’s latest projects under their new leadership will be maintaining proper sight lines and avoiding views of unthemed areas.

TRON is one eyesore that was forced into a pre-existing park by bad management. The man responsible for that decision was eventually fired by the board. None of this excuses Disney’s poor decision making with regard to TRON nor does it excuse Universal’s severe lack of care and attention to far more numerous sightline issues at a brand new park where squeezing an attraction into an area surrounded by pre-existing park areas was not an issue.

There’s also the issue of authenticity and suspension of disbelief. The TRON show building isn’t pretending to be something it’s not. It’s a big box, plain and simple. No illusions. On the other hand, seeing the wonderfully themed rooftops of Wizarding Paris but also its warehouse style backside at the same time is much worse because it ruins the magic and causes a critical failure in one’s suspension of disbelief. It makes the park feel hollow, fake, and devoid of authenticity.

I hope you can appreciate the differences in these two situations.

 

[JT3000]

Have I not made clear that I think both are hideous eyesores?

Just because the TRON building is “onstage” and within the story of the attraction doesn’t mean it’s not absolutely hideous. Same for Transformers.

You might think they're both ugly, but you're trying really hard to excuse one as being in-theme and not the other, when in all actuality the backside of Tron, which is entirely visible from the park (as seen in a previous post), is literally just an unthemed show buiding. Not a computer, not a grid, an unthemed show building with no disbelief to suspend. One of several that are now visible throughout WDW. Which is what I've been getting at this entire time. I didn't think I was laying on the sarcasm thick enough to not properly convey this message.

Who Disney hires or fires is irelevant to me, only their current product matters.

Meanwhile, all of Disney’s latest projects under their new leadership will be maintaining proper sight lines and avoiding views of unthemed areas.

How could you possibly know this? They haven't been built yet.

There’s also the issue of authenticity and suspension of disbelief. The TRON show building isn’t pretending to be something it’s not. It’s a big box, plain and simple. No illusions. On the other hand, seeing the wonderfully themed rooftops of Wizarding Paris but also its warehouse style backside at the same time is much worse because it ruins the magic and causes a critical failure in one’s suspension of disbelief. It makes the park feel hollow, fake, and devoid of authenticity.

I hope you can appreciate the differences in these two situations.

It isn't pretending to be something it's not? So Tron's theme is literally that of a show building now? There's some serious mental gymnastics going on here.

The backside of Paris can only be seen from Stardust Racers, not from inside Paris.

 

[Stripes]

The backside of Paris can only be seen from Stardust Racers

Really? Because Stardust Racers was closed when I went to Epic and I got a really good look at the unthemed, tan backside of Wizarding Paris.

How could you possibly know this?

How I know it is irrelevant. The fact is that I do, and since you appreciate highly themed, immersive environments, I think you’ll appreciate what’s coming to WDW. Indeed, I look forward to your praise of Disney’s execution of theming and backstage sightline integrity on these new projects
(JK, I know I’ll be dead before that happens!)

One of several that are now visible throughout WDW. Which is what I've been getting at this entire time. I didn't think I was laying on the sarcasm thick enough to not properly convey this message.

Personally, the go away blue and go away green show buildings don’t bother me when they’re off in the distance. It doesn’t really break any kind of immersion for me and I rarely even notice them. And if that was the scope of the issues at Epic, I would be singing its praises, at least where sightlines are concerned.

However, what I do notice are the tan warehouse buildings that are right in front of my face and clash with the detailed theming I’m seeing directly adjacent to them. Particularly disturbing is the fact that these sightlines were considered acceptable when designing a brand new theme park. Again, this park was not constrained by pre-existing development and, frankly, the sightline issues are not even challenging to mitigate. And yet, it is apparent that virtually no effort was taken to mitigate the issues whatsoever. Absolutely embarrassing for a 2025 theme park that purports to be world-class.

It isn't pretending to be something it's not? So Tron's theme is literally that of a show building now?

Basically, yes. It’s a box. According the story of the attraction, it houses the Grid. The upload conduit gets you into the Grid. It’s also the only “show building” not “themed” as a “stage” that is actually shown on the official map of Walt Disney World. The show building is part of the story of the attraction. But, it’s also not pretending to be anything other than a big box. It’s not like you’re seeing the rolling green hills of Mario’s world abruptly terminate to expose the tan warehouse show building for Mario Kart. IMO, the latter is the worse offender because there’s a critical break in the immersion that ruins the suspension of disbelief. It becomes inauthentic. With TRON, there is no suspension of disbelief to break and therefore it remains true to itself. Does that mean the TRON show building is themed? No, and it’s ugly but the box is “in-theme” with the story of the attraction. I will also note that Disney did plant a thick row of pine trees along the north perimeter of the TRON show building. These trees will significantly reduce the visual exposure of the building when fully grown in about 10 years as they can reach up to 100 feet tall.

The bottom line is: Epic’s sightline issues far, far outnumber Magic Kingdom’s (a park that’s over 50 years old). The sightline issues are more egregious in the sense that said sightlines destroy any attempts to induce suspension of disbelief. And frankly, the sightlines at Epic are so bad that it doesn’t even belong in the same conversation as a park like Magic Kingdom, where, with one notable exception, the care and dedication to sightline integrity is remarkable.

You might think they're both ugly, but you're trying really hard to excuse one as being in-theme and not the other

The Transformers show building is in-theme as well.

This will be my final post on the matter as I believe each of us have fully articulated our thoughts and opinions.