Universal Epic Universe (South Expansion Complex) - Now Open!

[TalkToEthan]

, Disney will always remain king.

Let’s not lose our heads over this……….

King Charles found out the hard way in 1649 that kings can be dethroned and their reigns can end at the hands of an “upstart” and a populace looking for something more promising

 

[Sir_Cliff]

Having said all that, this was the late 90's. Sites like this didn't even exist yet, Youtube was still almost a decade away and most people didn't have even dial-up internet access much less anyone looking for online reviews so there isn't much of a record of what that experience was like to look back on unless you were there for it.

For what it's worth, I still remember the opening of USO well before that, too which in many aspects was a disaster in its own way with attractions failing all over and them having inadequate covered queue space. A lot of people were really unhappy with MGM studios in the beginning too considering it to not be a full park compared to MK and Epcot and with basically only two major attractions that were both incredibly long but also had incredibly long waits.

In contrast, Epic is the first major park to open here in the era of social media and it has so much newness and ambition to it with tech and ops for what Universal is accustomed to. Thank goodness this is the third iteration of the Nintendo area or I feel like probably every interactive question mark block in that land would be down.

Thanks for this insight! I suspected that if we went back and looked at the opening of Animal Kingdom (and other parks), it would make the issues Universal are facing with Epic look less exceptional for a new park. My first visit to DAK was in January 1999 when crowds and heat weren't an issue, but without even the Asia section open it kind of felt like the theming was its main selling point as there wasn't that much to do as such. In that sense, it was kind of the Morocco Pavilion of parks!

As well it all not being as well-documented and shared among visitors, I guess something that may have spared Disney from the long lines of people seeking a refund was that many/most(?) were visiting it on a park-hopper or as part of a multi-day ticket. If you tired of your experience at DAK, you could just head over to one of the other three parks or, if you had a multi-day ticket, it was a tougher argument to get that one day of your ticket compensated. You also didn't have people buying expensive passes that only have value if you can actually get on the rides. So, I guess these aggressive ticketing strategies and up-charges that have become part and parcel of how the parks run these days make it harder for them to chalk up extensive downtimes to the usual operational challenges.

In a general sense, it seems both companies lack institutional memory that should prevent some issues like accounting for the heat only becoming apparent once new additions open. Another thing that one would hope comes out of this is that both Universal and Disney start taking attraction capacity more seriously.

 

[Tom Morrow]

This attraction is remarkable to me because having ridden it a number of times, I realize how precise everything has to be for it to feel exactly like every scene is focused just on your vehicle and happening just for you despite having to reset and create that same experience for the vehicle right in front and behind you - just look at the troubles Disney's had with TBA and how spaced out everything is on that one to try doing the same thing and with this ride at Epic, it's basically packed from beginning to end with that sort of thing and literally no dead spaces (pun intended). I think this one is going to be a challenge to keep in A-mode the majority of the time as it gets more wear.

Yeah, and when you consider that these show scenes are repeating every 7 seconds, its really worrisome that Monsters could start losing its wow factor piece by piece at a steady rate.

I hope they understand that the park is not strong enough without Monsters, Ministry, and Stardust Racers propping it up, and that all three of those experiences need to be as good as they can be.

 

[BrianLo]

Just a nice reminder that I started setting the bar more appropriately a full year ago. That UOR was never going to increase attendance 150% year one, two or even five.

I was using higher metrics a year ago though of 130-135% (2022 peak attendance). That was way too high, obviously.

I dialed back to 125% (of 2022), which is still in my mind quite good and maybe still overzealous. Epic just doesn’t have the capacity yet and the resort is softer year on year than expected. I still think 115% of 2022 figures might register as a tad disappointing. If that occurs the fault is definitely not Epic, rather the rest of the resort.

 

[rd805]

This may be a little bit of a diversion, but looking at some of these operational issues that Epic has been having leads me to wonder what the opening months of Disney's Animal Kingdom were like.

That park opened with far fewer attractions and before the days of all these ticketing schemes aimed at limiting capacity, so watching some of the challenges Universal has faced makes we wonder how Animal Kingdom didn't absolutely collapse when people showed up to experience a new park with so few attractions. Is it just that memories have faded of those challenges? Was the technology more straightforward and thus reliability better? Or is there some kind of other mix of factors?

It was a pretty empty park with few rides, so nobody really complained bc there wasn't much to do nor the crowds you were fighting with to do it!

 

[MrPromey]

Yeah, and when you consider that these show scenes are repeating every 7 seconds, its really worrisome that Monsters could start losing its wow factor piece by piece at a steady rate.

I hope they understand that the park is not strong enough without Monsters, Ministry, and Stardust Racers propping it up, and that all three of those experiences need to be as good as they can be.

It took me three rides to realize all the audio is coming through surround sound speakers built into the seats.

I was looking behind to catch how things like the Phantom did his leering lunge for one vehicle before immediately turning to appear to be ignoring the next one with no clue given to those people what would happen once they passed him and I noticed the Victoria animatronic right after giving her spiel to the vehicle directly behind us before she sends the power through Frank and I realized I couldn't hear her or the electric or him yelling in pain - all of which would have been experience-breaking due to the close proximity of vehicles to each other if they'd actually been ambient.

I could only see any of this because I'd chosen the end seat and was sticking my head out and ignoring what was happening in front of me to look back at all of that.

Things like the werewolf with two (or was it three?) different animatronics and the screen space really creates the feeling that character is following you even though the first one is already doing his thing for next car as soon as he's out of your view.

A whole lot of really clever work went into the pacing of all of this to make it mesh on an attraction that has omnimover-like operation and the fact that it is non-stop sensory action like that from start to finish (unlike say, Ministry that has a surprisingly large number of dead spaces where you're just passing tile walls to move from one show scene to the next)

Weirdly, I was hopeful for a breakdown or wheelchair access during one of my rides to see how they deal with a stop because unless they have some special programing for the action, that would ruin the immersion of the whole ride but it never happened in any of the 10 times we were on it.

 

[freediverdude]

Let’s not lose our heads over this……….

King Charles found out the hard way in 1649 that kings can be dethroned and their reigns can end at the hands of an “upstart” and a populace looking for something more promising

People with kids under 6 are probably always going to pick Magic Kingdom, Disney has that crowd locked in. But once the kids start getting older, I think we will see people switch over to Universal more and more.

Disney also has squandered the past decades of being a beloved US company with all the recent cuts and greed, and so they will have to compete as just another entertainment conglomerate.

 

[MrPromey]

People with kids under 6 are probably always going to pick Magic Kingdom, Disney has that crowd locked in. But once the kids start getting older, I think we will see people switch over to Universal more and more.

Disney also has squandered the past decades of being a beloved US company with all the recent cuts and greed, and so they will have to compete as just another entertainment conglomerate.

There's a reason that despite being mostly janky dated animatronics, Pirates is still a fan-favorite. Same with the simplicity of It's a Small World and Peter Pan's Flight.

I think Disney's put themselves in a position where in the future, they'll have to compete a lot harder to find and keep guests who aren't as tied to the nostalgia of their own early memories as people from generations before the current youngest one, possibly two.

Universal has had to reinvent large parts of their original Florida park a few times since they didn't have the luxury of that lock-in and are at a point where it's about time to do it again. I don't see Disney falling off a cliff but I think they're going to start to discover (if they haven't already) how costly some of their short term decisions over the last couple decades are going to be for them in the future when audiences with a more critical eye become a larger part of their guest base and they have to work harder to get them to keep coming, especially when many will hold no more real nostalgia for their offerings than they do for the competition's.

For this reason, I think the Epcot spine and TSI are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the conflict long-going fans with nostalgia that they spent human lifetimes cultivating will have with the changes they'll be making in coming years across all four parks to keep attracting new guests who basically hold almost nothing about the existing parks dear to them.

 

[Misted Compass]

 

[lazyboy97o]

That’s just dumb if they’re open to selling that many tickets. The park can’t handle anywhere near that many people.

 

[rd805]

just in time for me to get my visits in one June9 and 11


DDDDD!

 

[DCBaker]

Epic Universe park hours for July are now available and it seems the 10am-9pm hours remain for the entire month, except July 4 where park hours are listed as 10am-10pm.

 

[BrianLo]

That’s just dumb if they’re open to selling that many tickets. The park can’t handle anywhere near that many people.

Hopefully the ticketing system is interlocking now. A reduction from one bucket reduces the other. That’s the only thing I can think of.

 

[BrianLo]

People with kids under 6 are probably always going to pick Magic Kingdom, Disney has that crowd locked in. But once the kids start getting older, I think we will see people switch over to Universal more and more.

Disney also has squandered the past decades of being a beloved US company with all the recent cuts and greed, and so they will have to compete as just another entertainment conglomerate.

From 2010-2019, Disney actually grew their lead over Universal by 10M. I do think the mighty can fall, but we underestimate the sheer scale of WDW. This nostalgia dividend can’t actually come due if more people were going to WDW and Disneyland resort for that matter. The capacity of WDW is still twice that of Universal in just raw theme parks post Epic.

Universal really doesn’t want WDW to fall, either.

 

[eddie104]

For this reason, I think the Epcot spine and TSI are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the conflict long-going fans with nostalgia that they spent human lifetimes cultivating will have with the changes they'll be making in coming years across all four parks to keep attracting new guests who basically hold almost nothing about the existing parks dear to them.

You will start WW3 with a post like this.

 

[Mike S]

It took me three rides to realize all the audio is coming through surround sound speakers built into the seats.

I was looking behind to catch how things like the Phantom did his leering lunge for one vehicle before immediately turning to appear to be ignoring the next one with no clue given to those people what would happen once they passed him and I noticed the Victoria animatronic right after giving her spiel to the vehicle directly behind us before she sends the power through Frank and I realized I couldn't hear her or the electric or him yelling in pain - all of which would have been experience-breaking due to the close proximity of vehicles to each other if they'd actually been ambient.

I could only see any of this because I'd chosen the end seat and was sticking my head out and ignoring what was happening in front of me to look back at all of that.

Things like the werewolf with two (or was it three?) different animatronics and the screen space really creates the feeling that character is following you even though the first one is already doing his thing for next car as soon as he's out of your view.

A whole lot of really clever work went into the pacing of all of this to make it mesh on an attraction that has omnimover-like operation and the fact that it is non-stop sensory action like that from start to finish (unlike say, Ministry that has a surprisingly large number of dead spaces where you're just passing tile walls to move from one show scene to the next)

Weirdly, I was hopeful for a breakdown or wheelchair access during one of my rides to see how they deal with a stop because unless they have some special programing for the action, that would ruin the immersion of the whole ride but it never happened in any of the 10 times we were on it.

It happened for me. The ride just stops lol.

 

[flynnibus]

I wouldn’t count on that, but ok. In any event, I was making a larger point, which is that some people keep insisting that Universal is going to dethrone Disney

You been saving all winter to build that strawman?

 

[TennHokies]

Let’s not lose our heads over this……….

King Charles found out the hard way in 1649 that kings can be dethroned and their reigns can end at the hands of an “upstart” and a populace looking for something more promising

I was starting to feel on a personal level that now/Epic could be the catalyst for dethroning King Disney. In 10 days we’re heading to Universal for 4-days/5-nights with just one after hours Uber ride to Disney. But then it dawned on me, to interact with a knowledgeable and active theme park online community talking about Epic, I had to come to a Disney forum. Yup, long live the Mouse King.

 

[Tom Morrow]

It took me three rides to realize all the audio is coming through surround sound speakers built into the seats.

I was looking behind to catch how things like the Phantom did his leering lunge for one vehicle before immediately turning to appear to be ignoring the next one with no clue given to those people what would happen once they passed him and I noticed the Victoria animatronic right after giving her spiel to the vehicle directly behind us before she sends the power through Frank and I realized I couldn't hear her or the electric or him yelling in pain - all of which would have been experience-breaking due to the close proximity of vehicles to each other if they'd actually been ambient.

I could only see any of this because I'd chosen the end seat and was sticking my head out and ignoring what was happening in front of me to look back at all of that.

Things like the werewolf with two (or was it three?) different animatronics and the screen space really creates the feeling that character is following you even though the first one is already doing his thing for next car as soon as he's out of your view.

A whole lot of really clever work went into the pacing of all of this to make it mesh on an attraction that has omnimover-like operation and the fact that it is non-stop sensory action like that from start to finish (unlike say, Ministry that has a surprisingly large number of dead spaces where you're just passing tile walls to move from one show scene to the next)

Weirdly, I was hopeful for a breakdown or wheelchair access during one of my rides to see how they deal with a stop because unless they have some special programing for the action, that would ruin the immersion of the whole ride but it never happened in any of the 10 times we were on it.

Another trick is that the Ygor animatronic has alternating lines of dialogue. You can see him send off the vehicle ahead of you, so this way he does not repeat the same animation for your vehicle.

That’s just dumb if they’re open to selling that many tickets. The park can’t handle anywhere near that many people.

I fear they might have gotten over-zealous from the positive reviews from weeks of short lines. This park will not receive glowing reviews when it has more guests than it is currently equipped to handle.

And before someone says "well technically the park's official capacity is ____" or whatever, I mean how much the park can handle without it being a miserable experience.

Epic Universe park hours for July are now available and it seems the 10am-9pm hours remain for the entire month, except July 4 where park hours are listed as 10am-10pm.

It is a shame that they didn't give it 10 PM closing like IOA. It does not get dark in Orlando in summer until basically 9 PM. People will get to see how beautiful Epic is at night... as they walk out to their car. I don't care if it opens later than the other parks. Open it 11:00 if it means having it open for longer hours at night!

 

[JusticeDisney]

You been saving all winter to build that strawman?

Keep those eyes shut nice and tight, homie!