MrPromey
Well-Known Member
Are you talking the restaurant/theater area or the resort area?What if people used Hard Rock as a transfer point instead of the bus hub?
Are you talking the restaurant/theater area or the resort area?What if people used Hard Rock as a transfer point instead of the bus hub?
To be fair, you get a sense of the same when staying at any on-campus resort that doesn't have boat access as it comes to visiting those two parks.Exactly. I thought it’d be an easier experience until I stayed at Terra Luna, and then you really feel the isolation. It’s a 10 minute walk from the parks through heavy pedestrian traffic to the bus, and then a 14 minute bus ride. So it ends up being a 30+ minute ordeal at best.
The hotel. It would be an easy walk to go from the Studios to the bus area of the hotel to catch a bus to Epic. Or take a bus from Epic to the Hard Rock Hotel and then head to the Studios. IOA wouldn't be as convenient since it's still a walk from the gate to any bus.Are you talking the restaurant/theater area or the resort area?
I know where it is but have never stayed there or walked over there. Do you think there would be space/capacity to add a real bus transfer spot intended for this purpose for all resort guests that wouldn't detract from the HR guests in that area or are you thinking more as an individual hack?The hotel. It would be an easy walk to go from the Studios to the bus area of the hotel to catch a bus to Epic. Or take a bus from Epic to the Hard Rock Hotel and then head to the Studios. IOA wouldn't be as convenient since it's still a walk from the gate to any bus.
No there isn't unless you destroy the ambience of the hotelI know where it is but have never stayed there or walked over there. Do you think there would be space/capacity to add a real bus transfer spot intended for this purpose for all resort guests that wouldn't detract from the HR guests in that area or are you thinking more as an individual hack?
Seems like even with it being a bit more of a walk, it would be better than having to trudge through all of Citywalk.
I think it’ll definitely shift things, but not in the way Potter did. Potter turned the market on its head and completely changed the design philosophy for theme parks. Epic doesn’t really do that, at least not to the same extent.
Park hopping from USF/IOA to the Epic resort area is unfortunately such a chore that I can’t see myself doing it.
Just cause I dropped my phone in a lake Wednesday. The insurance brought me back today.it is telling that most of the universal defenders have gone quiet in this thread
I also think because it’s been so long since a new park has opened in the US, people have poor expectations of what a brand new park is supposed to have and be like. I have been around long enough to remember the underwhelming and often negative reaction and marketing desperation surrounding the opening of both AK and DCA, and I don't get the same sense of that about Epic. For Epic, people want *more* while DCA was, "Why the heck did they build it like this?" and AK was a lot of confusion by the general public. Building out more is a much more solvable problem than people rejecting your entire underlying concept.
EPCOT Center visitation was very close to Magic Kingdom visitation. Despite the financial troubles at the studio, the parks remained so profitable that the entire company remained profitable. The story of EPCOT Center struggling out of the gate is just that, a story pushed by Roy E. to help justify his actions against his cousin’s husband whose ideas and successes would also be attributed to others.
In regards to TM issues (attitudes, lack of knowledge, etc.) being a "teething" thing for Epic Universe, I'd like to point out that any negative interactions between my first visit to Orlando in '07 and now (that were bad enough for me to remember) have taken place almost exclusively at Universal Parks. I wonder if they have a different onboarding process there than they do out in Hollywood? Because I don't have any recollection of any one particularly bad TM experience out here on the West coast (-and I've been visiting since I was a child).
But I've had awful experiences with rude, unknowledgeable or inefficient TMs in places like Poseidon's Fury, Skull Island: Reign of Kong, Thunder Falls Terrace, Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit, etc. and not really one interaction that stands out as being particularly memorable in a good way (as far as front line, interactable TMs are concerned) over my many trips there.
Maybe it's just the weather or something? But if their other parks still haven't ironed out this kink in the nearly 35 years they've been around, then I don't exactly have high hopes in the long run for this particular issue at Epic, either.
I know for a fact Universal completely overhauled and expanded their corporate training in preparation for Epic. They also beefed up leadership – promoting some of their best in-house and pulling seasoned folks from Disney, SeaWorld, and other parks across the industry. If you look at some of the names and resumes, it’s like a who’s who of top-tier talent.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough. Some longtime Universal Orlando leaders just aren’t adapting to modern expectations, and the staffing pool isn’t deep enough to meet the level of service Epic deserves.
At the end of the day, I genuinely don’t think there are enough willing and qualified people in Central Florida who want to work in theme parks anymore. And unlike Disney, Universal doesn’t have a strong, well-run college program bringing in talent from around the country (and world) to close that gap.
Two points I'd like to add about CMs vs. TMs:
1. The majority if people who move to Orlando specifically to work in theme parks at least start at Disney. Universal's staffing is more significantly filled by locals who aren't particularly enthusiastic about the parks but a job is a job. There are still many TMs that actually care about theme parks and are enthusiastic about them working there, but you are more likely to encounter these types at Disney.
2. Disney has an overall leadership policy that leans too heavily in favor of the guest at the detriment of the CMs. Universal is kind of the opposite, leaning a little too heavily toward favoring the TM at the detriment of the guest experience. The result is that Universal is typically regarded as a better place to work, but a worse guest service experience for visitors.
Unfortunately, everything I know about how the parks are run tells me that the people being boosted upward are very much often not people who care about theme parks, but just people who are good at playing the game. This is true for every job and field I guess, but unfortunately, it's no different with the parks.
Culturally, this is spot on, but most of their policies and procedures are nearly identical.
That’s just corporate America in a nutshell.
I’m picking up what you mean, but I think these parks are works of art and can be treated as such. I don’t think this take is any different than the “just turn your brain off and have fun” comments that some blockbuster movies get. I really enjoy the MCU movies even when they have bad plots or awful CGI.So I’ve been 3 times, and I really don’t get all the complaints about the park not being fully immersive in certain lands. I’ve ridden Stardust and Hiccup’s several times, and not once was I pulled out of the experience on either by outside views/intrusions. I noticed the cherry picker on Hiccup’s the first time, but it was very much a “oh, what’s tha…woah this is fun!” thing that had 0 impact on the experience. Both coasters are so fun that I think you have to be purposely ignoring the ride experience to look for these things, and I know how that goes because I purposely pull myself out of experiences to look at the technical stuff at times. I stood around for the Burning Blade a few times, and nothing pulled me out of the experience. Helios being visible never once impacted me. Sure, the HTTYD theater facade could have been better, but I didn’t even notice/think twice about it my 2nd and 3rd visits.
I very much think a product should be the absolute best it can be, and I’m fine saying things maybe should/could have been better, but I think a lot of the criticism is overblown in terms of the realistic impact it has on the experience, and takes away from other criticisms that are probably more legitimately impactful to the average guest and not those of us that willingly and deliberately look for the stuff like this at the expense of our enjoyment.
So I’ve been 3 times, and I really don’t get all the complaints about the park not being fully immersive in certain lands. I’ve ridden Stardust and Hiccup’s several times, and not once was I pulled out of the experience on either by outside views/intrusions. I noticed the cherry picker on Hiccup’s the first time, but it was very much a “oh, what’s tha…woah this is fun!” thing that had 0 impact on the experience. Both coasters are so fun that I think you have to be purposely ignoring the ride experience to look for these things, and I know how that goes because I purposely pull myself out of experiences to look at the technical stuff at times. I stood around for the Burning Blade a few times, and nothing pulled me out of the experience. Helios being visible never once impacted me. Sure, the HTTYD theater facade could have been better, but I didn’t even notice/think twice about it my 2nd and 3rd visits.
I very much think a product should be the absolute best it can be, and I’m fine saying things maybe should/could have been better, but I think a lot of the criticism is overblown in terms of the realistic impact it has on the experience, and takes away from other criticisms that are probably more legitimately impactful to the average guest and not those of us that willingly and deliberately look for the stuff like this at the expense of our enjoyment.
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