Impressed by Universal

[SirWillow]

Wizarding World is absolutely incredible. When I worked at Disney we called it the Disney killer, and know that Disney has been looking for a "Potter Killer" ever since. They hoped in some ways that Pandora would be it, but there's not enough there. I think the hope, and really the expectation, is that Galaxy's Edge will finally be it. But we'll see. But WW is strong enough that we're making a way to get there for my daughter to experience when we're there next month.

I've always really enjoyed Islands of Adventure and the theming there. Honestly felt that it held up extremely well against Disney. Didn't like the cartoon island? I still like it better than Dinorama. I thought Marvel Island did very well giving a comic book feel- keep in mind it was done before the Marvel blockbuster movies, so it was based on comics, not movies when it came to styling. Lost Continent was a great area, and Seuss Island is practically perfect in my opinion. It feels like it jumped out of the books.

Universal Studios itself is falling into the same problems that DHS has- it used to be a working studio, now it's not, and the movie making theme is being set aside and lost for ride experiences that often have nothing to do with the overall park theme. And I don't think there's a way you could effectively fix that at this point without completely redoing the whole park.

 

[networkpro]

I just hope they beef it up before the paradigm that is currenty funding it undergoes a fundamental shift away from the monthly Comcast bill.

 

[DeletedAccount55555]

It was down to mishandling and mismanagement by people who didn’t understand what they were asking for.

And maybe an insistence on utilizing what had already been shot for the Hollywood tram tour, even though it results in a rather short ride experience?

At least with Kong they added another scene and the animatronic.

Universal Studios itself is falling into the same problems that DHS has- it used to be a working studio, now it's not, and the movie making theme is being set aside and lost for ride experiences that often have nothing to do with the overall park theme. And I don't think there's a way you could effectively fix that at this point without completely redoing the whole park.

At least DHS was laid out like a theme park. USF has all these sharp angles and design elements that were clearly geared towards being a working studio with backlot-style sets. You're right, I don't think it's fixable without a massive revamp to the park layout that's honestly not worth the money.

Islands of Adventure, however, is just as good as anything Disney had done up until that point.

 

[Goofyernmost]

The problem with Pandora is nobody knows what it is. The movie franchise isn't big enough where your like, "there's the Pongu Pongu stand, the Rive Navi! or the Asian bowl restaurant. StarWars should be more like Harry Potter given the long history and huge catalogue.

All it has to be is good. I went to 20K leagues and never saw the film or knew the entire story line yet I always enjoyed it. We didn't have to know anything about Imagination or the Dream Finder or Figment, but, it was well done and we embraced it as our own. It appears that the lack of any recent promotion of Pandora other then at Disney really hasn't hurt the demand. I never saw a Star Wars movie yet enjoyed Star Tours immensely. Never read a Potter book or saw a single movie, yet the land was great. No previous exposure necessary. Build it well and they will come.

 

[aliceismad]

All it has to be is good. I went to 20K leagues and never saw the film or knew the entire story line yet I always enjoyed it. We didn't have to know anything about Imagination or the Dream Finder or Figment, but, it was well done and we embraced it as our own. It appears that the lack of any recent promotion of Pandora other then at Disney really hasn't hurt the demand. I never saw a Star Wars movie yet enjoyed Star Tours immensely. Never read a Potter book or saw a single movie, yet the land was great. No previous exposure necessary. Build it well and they will come.

New rides and lands will be great for people who are already going to the parks or like the parks. But PLENTY of people go to Universal solely because they're fans of HP. Those people may or may not have gone to Universal without HP. Lots of people will go to SW:GE ONLY because they're fans of SW. I don't think there are enough (any?) Avatar fanatics to draw people to Disney.

 

[Goofyernmost]

But USF works great for the Haloween Mazes with their layout so I don't mind.

As far as Kong I was disappointed in that. I still think the original Kong ride was awesome and was sad to see it go.

I so agree, that was years ago, and if anyone can tell me anything that Disney has done that was more realistic or more immersive than Kong was it will come as a surprise to me. The down side is the queue was a circus. It was wide and if you want to talk about massive line cutting, Kong was the granddaddy of all queue's. It took forever and you saw the same "news" loop over and over again. The system and what it did would be handy right now to show those that are afraid of the upcoming Skyliner. It had a lot of people on it (just a guess but I would think about 35 or 40) it moved along bounced up and down as Kong grabbed it. Kong was probably bigger than Yeti and it worked for years. People are so afraid that they are going to like Universal that they won't even try it. Different type (no Princesses) than Disney, but, always high quality and really good theming from area to area.

 

[Goofyernmost]

disagree. Pandora is crowded because of Flight of Passage. Take Flight of Passage away and that land would be empty.

As an immersive area Pandora does not succeed like the Harry Potter lands do as the poster says. Starwarsland won't have that problem though.

Flight of Passage is part of Pandora, you can't separate it out and say it isn't Pandora. Besides that is just your opinion, I have heard completely different things and many that feel the land itself, especially at night, is very impressive. You don't like it, OK, I'm fine with that... but, just say that don't try to separate intricate parts to justify your stand. If you liked FoP then you liked Pandora, just maybe not the whole thing.

 

[SourcererMark79]

F&F
Kong
Fallon
Minion
Spider Man
Transformers
Simpsons
HP EfG
HP

Like (almost) every thing worth doing there

 

[Goofyernmost]

New rides and lands will be great for people who are already going to the parks or like the parks. But PLENTY of people go to Universal solely because they're fans of HP. Those people may or may not have gone to Universal without HP. Lots of people will go to SW:GE ONLY because they're fans of SW. I don't think there are enough (any?) Avatar fanatics to draw people to Disney.

It was that way in the beginning, but, now the majority of visitors like the entire place, but, are justifiable impressed with HP. Between the rest of Universal Studios and Island of Adventure are more populated then HP. If all the people that were in the two combined parks were only interested in HP you wouldn't be able to even breath in that combined land.

 

[RustySpork]

Universal is nice to visit but it's not Disney. Universal has to many screen based attractions. The harry potter attractions are nice but that's the only area in the park that is highly themed. The Harry Potter lands are to small for the amount of people especially the gift shops that it's not enjoyable by any means.

Disney is nice to visit, but it's not Universal. Disney has too many boat based attractions. The Pandora attraction is nice, but that's the only area in the park that's as themed as Harry Potter. The Pandora land is so small that when it opened you had to wait hours in line before you could even get into it, and the only gift shop, there's a line to get in there too! That's not enjoyable by any means.

 

[RustySpork]

F&F
Kong
Fallon
Minion
Spider Man
Transformers
Simpsons
HP EfG
HP FJ

(Plus Shrek is a 4D screen show, which doesn't count but gives my DH more vertigo sometimes.)

Some of those are great rides, and some are amazing technology. But they all could potentially ruin my day, and that lowers the value of the parks to me. I risk it for the HP rides. The others? Probably not. Disney has it's fair share of screen-based rides/attractions existing or forthcoming, but the wide variety of non-screen rides with excellent themeing is a bigger draw than Universal, for me, especially since there are 4 parks rather than just the two.

Flight of Passage
Soarin
Mission Space
Figment
The seas with Nemo and friends
Monster's Inc Laugh Floor
Toy Story Midway Mania
Star Tours

All have screens...that isn't even a complete list.

 

[Goofyernmost]

I actually liked that and Jaws. It was a good utilization of the now useless lake.
They really should have kept those two rides.

If they had somehow added Mummy (i know in the same space but they could have put Mummy where fast and furious is) and kept Jaws and Kong along with Harry Potter the Universal side would be alot stronger.

The useless lake no longer exist, it is magically transformed into a huge very realistic train station for HP and the jaw dropping train ride to IoA and the other half of HP. However, there are a bundle of things leading up to that area that are still worth seeing. It has a different atmosphere than Disney, but, it has it's own charm and given a chance it becomes a great alternative and added destination.

 

[RustySpork]

The useless lake no longer exist, it is magically transformed into a huge very realistic train station for HP and the jaw dropping train ride to IoA and the other half of HP. However, there are a bundle of things leading up to that area that are still worth seeing. It has a different atmosphere than Disney, but, it has it's own charm and given a chance it becomes a great alternative and added destination.

BUT THAT IS JUST ANOTHER SCREEN RIDE! /s

 

[po1998]

I was at uni last spring. Had the one day park hopper. By the end of the day, I had “screen fatigue”. In particular, i think FJ tipped me over the edge, and Fallon and the Simpsons which I did later in the day had me closing me eyes.

 

[Goofyernmost]

BUT THAT IS JUST ANOTHER SCREEN RIDE! /s

Yea, I know... Ironic isn't it? That is the technology of today. The future is coming up and will probably have a new technology that will be better, but, for now it is quite impressive.

 

[RustySpork]

Yea, I know... Ironic isn't it? That is the technology of today. The future is coming up and will probably have a new technology that will be better, but, for now it is quite impressive.

I think both parks do a great job of attracting guests, and entertaining them. They're certainly different, but if they were the same what fun would that be?

 

[Goofyernmost]

I think both parks do a great job of attracting guests, and entertaining them. They're certainly different, but if they were the same what fun would that be?

Absolutely, I have been spending time at Universal since it opened up. Even then I was impressed. I have never spent as much time there as I have at WDW, but, I have always enjoyed my time there.

 

[RustySpork]

I think the void is the future. But one could argue even that is screens.

Till we get 3D (no glasses) color holograms. That's probably the next leap.

Just wait until they inject the ride directly into our brains, think about the haters!

Me:

Spoiler

 

[dreamfinder912]

I went to universal for harry potter...i go back because it's the only theme park that seems to realize that not everyone has/likes kids. there's areas there for kids and it is still a theme park but you're not trapped in sidewalk traffic hell with more wheels than feet on the ground. (the park does not appeal to little kids, those with limited mobility, or those who like to cart in a weeks worth of supplies for 8 hours in a theme park) and...not only do the team members seem to be overall more content than cast members, they actually enforce rules. Line cutters actually get sent out, smokers are returned to their smoking sections, and no amount of wailing is going to get you a free express pass. It's glorious.

 

[Bob Harlem]

Universal Studios itself is falling into the same problems that DHS has- it used to be a working studio, now it's not, and the movie making theme is being set aside and lost for ride experiences that often have nothing to do with the overall park theme. And I don't think there's a way you could effectively fix that at this point without completely redoing the whole park.

Universal Flolrida is still a working studio. There are two active productions going on now (Deal or no Deal, and the Oprah Winfrey TV series David Makes Man that airs later this year). It's soundstages have been pretty busy lately (enough they had to shuffle around the Grinch show) Check out http://studio.florida.universalstudios.com/ for more on that stuff. DHS doesn't even have soundstages to use anymore.

Those going on about screens being too much, should really check out what they are doing with the new Harry Potter coaster. Lots of show scenes indoor and outdoor,through a forest, and more with no screens in sight. I think they are heading back to more practical stuff while Disney is moving more toward 3d stuff with Pandora, Mickey, and Star Wars.