Trip Report: 9/21 - 9/25 - Is that it?

[raven]

Cat in the Hat the only dark ride on property?

Spider-Man, Forbidden Journey, E.T., Transformers, Revenge of the Mummy, Men in Black and Gringots are also dark rides.

 

[imperius]

As I said before let the theme park wars ramp up. Screw Disney Verses Universal, how about Disney, Universal verses the world? Especially Disney. Disney World should be their Flag Ship and treated as such.

I know Universal is seeing a return on their money spent, now they need to up their game since Disney is on a rampage. Is Disney bringing their A game? We will see. Think Universal is doing well but I'm not seeing that, I have to ride that happening lately. Additions have been welcome but where's the weenie? What have you done for me this year? Hulk? Maintenance. Fallon? I think the best ride of it's type but for it's type with many others isn't so impressive. FF, filler. Where's the next great thing?

Nintendo, HP replacement, Ministry of Magic possibly, Secret Life of Pets dark ride possibly. All the great things are on the way.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

If anyone is thinking Comcast isn't going to respond in kind to Disney's D23 dump, then you haven't been paying attention.

This is the "Theme Park Wars" Comcast has been trying to draw Disney into for a decade. Comcast isn't quaking in their boots after D23, they are priming the cannons.

 

[No Name]

Late to the the party. I would agree the both USF and IOA are high-quality amusement parks, but perhaps for a different reason. How can you call them theme parks when there is no theme? There is some strong theming, but there is no strong theme. Even the weak differentiator (movies in USF vs. literature in IOA) is no more.

I would say DHS is also going from a theme park to an amusement park. Pandora, on the other hand, uphold's DAK's theme well.

Maybe Universal is fine operating amusement parks, but that's what they're doing, regardless of the quality of each individual part.

 

[No Name]

If you want to argue quality of individual parts, well, I present to you the Aventura Hotel. It's visible from a ton of places inside of the parks. But it looks like a giant fidget spinner which is pretty cool!

 

[JT3000]

Late to the the party. I would agree the both USF and IOA are high-quality amusement parks, but perhaps for a different reason. How can you call them theme parks when there is no theme? There is some strong theming, but there is no strong theme. Even the weak differentiator (movies in USF vs. literature in IOA) is no more.

I would say DHS is also going from a theme park to an amusement park. Pandora, on the other hand, uphold's DAK's theme well.

Maybe Universal is fine operating amusement parks, but that's what they're doing, regardless of the quality of each individual part.

Err... what? Since when do parks need an overarching theme to qualify as theme parks? Using your logic, Disneyland & Magic Kingdom aren't theme parks either, because the themes in those parks are no more coherently thrown together than IOA's. But good luck getting anyone to agree with this notion.

And if Disney has convinced you that Pandora upholds DAK's original theme, I've got some great oceanfront property in Nebraska to sell you.

If you want to argue quality of individual parts, well, I present to you the Aventure Hotel. It's visible from a ton of places inside of the parks. But it looks like a giant fidget spinner which is pretty cool!

If you're trying to say the Aventura Hotel, then, as someone who has been to Universal three times in the past week, I once again have no idea what you're talking about. It's not even that tall yet.

 

[No Name]

Since when do parks need an overarching theme to qualify as theme parks?

Do you not realize the irony in that question? That's exactly where "theme park" comes from... a park with theme(s).

Using your logic, Disneyland & Magic Kingdom aren't theme parks either, because the themes in those parks are no more coherently thrown together than IOA's. But good luck getting anyone to agree with this notion.

The Magic Kingdom is loosely about our vision of the past, present, fantasy, and future. On the other hand, there is absolutely nothing coherent about IoA as a whole. There are plenty who would agree with my notion, and I'd wager, fewer who'd agree with yours.

 

[imperius]

Sign me up for agreeing with JT.

 

[JoeCamel]

Sign me up for agreeing with JT.

Yeah, me too. IOA is more fun than today's MK theme or not.

 

[JT3000]

Do you not realize the irony in that question? That's exactly where "theme park" comes from... a park with theme(s).

There's no irony. Having themes is not the same as having an overarching theme to tie it all together. There are many theme parks which lack the latter, including the most famous.

The Magic Kingdom is loosely about our vision of the past, present, fantasy, and future. On the other hand, there is absolutely nothing coherent about IoA as a whole. There are plenty who would agree with my notion, and I'd wager, fewer who'd agree with yours.

So how much are you wagering?

You're trying to conveniently tie together Magic Kingdom's themes with a nice bow, but it's not working for me. Cowboys, space ports and fairy tales have no common denominator. If you were to ask Walt Disney himself what the theme of Disneyland was as a whole, he likely would have looked at you like you were a crazy person.

IOA's theme is adventure, which is probably vague to the point of being useless, but I don't see how it's any less coherent. And literature was never IOA's official theme, just a fan observation, but considering there's still only two attractions that don't fit, I'd say that's about on par with how well most other parks stick to their themes these days, and it's completely accidental.

In USF, Nintendo and Rockit will be the only attractions that don't fit the theme, so I'm not sure how that's an amusement park either.

 

[imperius]

Seriously, how is Magic Kingdoms overall theme different than IOA? They are just separate lands built on the premise of their own theme of islands or kingdoms. Even so how does the speedway fit into the theme of Tomorrowland?

 

[celluloid]

Get this in reference to what people are talking about, one is the idea of what Magic can bring based on the human condition wishes to experience, the other is Adventure based on the human condition wishes to experience.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

There are plenty of different definition of "Theme". An overarching philosophical idea is not necessary for a park to be a "theme park". You start moving away from traditional amusement park when you start to build "lands" that have a cohesive aesthetic theme. It is the extent to how much of that a park uses will, for each guest, determine whether it is a theme park or not. Like, say, Cedar Point. They have one themed land, Frontier Town. And while CP does have that one themed land, no one considers CP a "Theme Park". Then to that other extreme, you have The North Pole outside of Colorado Springs, CO
It clearly has an overarching Theme, but very little effort is put into visual peacemaking. And yet, it is clearly a theme park.

I can just envision a high school sophomore Imagineer wannabe explaining to some seniors that this years Homecoming Dance that has a '50s Sock Hop theme isn't actually themed because it doesn't have an overarching philosophical theme.

Enjoy your swirly, Nerd!

 

[captainkidd]

I must be insane. I absolutely love both Universal parks. I think the the theming is absolutely top notch. I love the food. I love the hotels. I love CityWalk. Even the screen based rides, which are the same ride system in nature, are all unique and fun in their theme.

 

[JustInTime]

Okay, so I’ll be the first to agree that the rides are getting all too similar. They are using way too many screens. But forbidden journey is unlike anything in Orlando. And I’m curious as to how you even judge since you couldn’t ride it. While it is no Disney World, I love universal. I always try to do a day there!

 

[G8rchamps]

My children sum up UNI in one word- MEH.

Had Universal AP's 9/16-17. Got a great deal from a friend who works there. Enjoyed the parks but near the end my kids DS13 and DD10 (12 and 9 at first) had no desire to go back. We got Disney AP's again this year and actually skipped out last 2 possible days at UNI to just get back to Disney. Call us brainwashed, but we love DIS, headed back for a third trip in tow weeks since labor day. (We live less than 2 hrs away.)

 

[Disneyhead'71]

I sumed up my feelings about "The Disney Experience" on some forum yesterday. I'll restate it here.

"And to be quite honest, I just don't care for "The Disney Experience" anymore. I always feel like I'm wading through a Sea of knee-high screamin' snot monsters to get to an attraction that's only purpose is to induce a coma from boredom."

 

[captainkidd]

I love both, but here's a question: Why does Universal get beat up for having so many screen rides when Disney has so many omni movers? Granted, I like some of them, but what differentiates Ariel, Nemo, Haunted Mansion and Imagination's ride system? It's the theme of the ride itself. Same as the screen based rides.

I could spend days at the Magic Kingdom. Epcot, I could give 2 days tops. Studios, I could give maybe a day to, and same for Animal Kingdom. I could spend multiple days at both Universal parks.

 

[JT3000]

I love both, but here's a question: Why does Universal get beat up for having so many screen rides when Disney has so many omni movers? Granted, I like some of them, but what differentiates Ariel, Nemo, Haunted Mansion and Imagination's ride system? It's the theme of the ride itself. Same as the screen based rides.

I find it just as perplexing that Disney gets credit for the variety of their practical show scenes, but Universal doesn't get any credit for the variety of ride systems utilized on their screen-based attractions, some of which are unique and can't be found anywhere else. There are three traditional simulators now, however, anyone who has been on any of the hybrid attractions knows that the ride systems provide very different experiences (with the exception of Spider-Man & Transformers.) Yet people often speak of them as if they've only seen Youtube videos and the experience is literally nothing but screens.

 

[lebeau]

My children sum up UNI in one word- MEH.

Had Universal AP's 9/16-17. Got a great deal from a friend who works there. Enjoyed the parks but near the end my kids DS13 and DD10 (12 and 9 at first) had no desire to go back. We got Disney AP's again this year and actually skipped out last 2 possible days at UNI to just get back to Disney. Call us brainwashed, but we love DIS, headed back for a third trip in tow weeks since labor day. (We live less than 2 hrs away.)

You're brainwashed.

Hey, you asked!