Universal Epic Universe (South Expansion Complex) - Opens May 22 2025

Poseidon Quest

Well-Known Member
Massive missed opportunity.

I'm not so sure. What does Disney have prepared to counter this? More popcorn buckets? I would be surprised if they actually announced anything substantial any time soon. Perhaps a few attractions here and there, but we know they'll be IP based and mediocre, taking 5 years just to complete.
 

sedati

Well-Known Member
Epic things happen when a company treats the guests and cast with respect and delivers a quality experience.
I can't imagine the response if Disney built a new park whose centerpiece was a high-end hotel. It's one thing to use it as a gateway/ transition piece, but putting it front and center makes it the mission statement for the park. This takes the class system that's been becoming more evident in the parks and literally puts the big spenders up on a pedestal. Welcome to Epic Wallets.
 
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JT3000

Well-Known Member
I can't imagine the response if Disney built a new park whose centerpiece was a high-end hotel. It's one thing to use it as a gateway/ transition piece, but putting it front and center makes it the mission statement for the park. This takes the class system that's been becoming more evident in the parks and literally puts the big spenders up on a pedestal. Welcome to Epic Wallets.
Yeah, I can't imagine Tokyo DisneySea either. Methinks the lady doth protest too much. I don't know what possessed you to assume the hotel was the park's "centerpiece" in the first place.
 

sedati

Well-Known Member
Yeah, I can't imagine Tokyo DisneySea either. Methinks the lady doth protest too much. I don't know what possessed you to assume the hotel was the park's "centerpiece" in the first place.
You misplaced the “methinks” just as you don’t seem to understand the difference between an entry point and a focal point or a five story backdrop vs a fifteen story icon.
 

Disneyhead'71

Well-Known Member
I can't imagine the response if Disney built a new park whose centerpiece was a high-end hotel. It's one thing to use it as a gateway/ transition piece, but putting it front and center makes it the mission statement for the park. This takes the class system that's been becoming more evident in the parks and literally puts the big spenders up on a pedestal. Welcome to Epic Wallets.
I believe you may be a bit confused. The Helios Resort is on the backside of the park. Not front and center.

If I am not mistaken, this would be the definition of a luxury resort front and center of a theme park.

disneyland-hotel-paris.jpg


It's not like the hotel doubles as one of the park's lands.

tokyo-disneysea-venice.jpg
 
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Casper Gutman

Well-Known Member
I believe you may be a bit confused. The Helios Resort is on the backside of the park. Not front and center.

If I am not mistaken, this would be the definition of a luxury resort front and center of a theme park.

disneyland-hotel-paris.jpg
Or the Grand Californian, which runs throughout the park. Or the above mentioned Hotel Miracosta, which both serves as the entry point to the park AND one of its lands. I guess we can give you a pass on the EPCOT hotel that was going to dominate that park since it hasn’t been built yet.

Universal’s parks don’t really have central weenies the way Disney’s do. Their icons - the Universal globe or IOA lighthouse - tend to be outside the entrance. EU will deviate even further from the standard pattern since we expect the central spine to be a free Citywalk-style area, so Helios’s placement will be more akin to that of the Disneyland hotel then anything else. Additionally, guests will enter EU and be separated from the Helios by three large bodies of water, one of which will likely feature a complex fountain and one that will contain a huge carousel. It won’t dominate.

This is a lot of words in response to a cheap, silly shot. It feels like you are trying not to understand the real nature of the complaints about Disney using upcharge event, line-management systems, exclusive lounges, and other techniques to create a hierarchy of guests.
 

JT3000

Well-Known Member
You misplaced the “methinks” just as you don’t seem to understand the difference between an entry point and a focal point or a five story backdrop vs a fifteen story icon.
Okay, quote police. I'm still waiting for you to show me evidence of the hotel being the park's focal point, much less a sign of classism as you claim. By the way, how many stories is Cinderella's Castle? Should we tear that down? I can't think of anything more classist than royalty. I need some pointers on faux anarchism as it relates to overpriced theme parks.
 
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BrianLo

Well-Known Member
EU will deviate even further from the standard pattern since we expect the central spine to be a free Citywalk-style area, so Helios’s placement will be more akin to that of the Disneyland hotel then anything else.

We do? This sounds like a horrible idea. One of those Universal experiments that I don't think they know what they are in for.

Having to traipse through Disney Springs to get between Galaxy's Edge and Toy Story Land sounds like the stuff of nightmares.
 

Casper Gutman

Well-Known Member
We do? This sounds like a horrible idea. One of those Universal experiments that I don't think they know what they are in for.

Having to traipse through Disney Springs to get between Galaxy's Edge and Toy Story Land sounds like the stuff of nightmares.
I’m not sure why. It would be as though Main Street and the MK hub were public. It’s only a problem if the capacity can’t handle the crowds.
 

Rich Brownn

Well-Known Member
We do? This sounds like a horrible idea. One of those Universal experiments that I don't think they know what they are in for.

Having to traipse through Disney Springs to get between Galaxy's Edge and Toy Story Land sounds like the stuff of nightmares.
Its not going to be free. And it has rides itself (coaster, probably carousel). Its no more "Disney Springs" than Main Street
 

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
EU will deviate even further from the standard pattern since we expect the central spine to be a free Citywalk-style area, so Helios’s placement will be more akin to that of the Disneyland hotel then anything else.
The Celestial Realm being a sort of CityWalk was an idea from early in the development process that never made it out of ideation. The park will have one gate out front that riffs on the Studios entry with an arch.
 

sedati

Well-Known Member
I believe you may be a bit confused. The Helios Resort is on the backside of the park. Not front and center.

If I am not mistaken, this would be the definition of a luxury resort front and center of a theme park.

disneyland-hotel-paris.jpg


It's not like the hotel doubles as one of the park's lands.

tokyo-disneysea-venice.jpg
Sorry, "FRONT and center" was bad wording on my part. "BACK and center" is more what we're getting. But as I said, the other examples act as transitions and gateways. Once in the park they work as backdrops. Swap the Disneyland Hotel with Sleeping Beauty's Castle. Swap Hotel Mira Costa with Mount Prometheus for an apt comparison. Universal is using the hotel as the Focal Point, the Icon, The Weenie. If having high-end hotels abutting the park was a slippery slope, Epic Universe has gone right off a cliff.
And to my original point, "I can't imagine the response if Disney built a new park whose centerpiece was a high-end hotel."
 

Casper Gutman

Well-Known Member
Sorry, "FRONT and center" was bad wording on my part. "BACK and center" is more what we're getting. But as I said, the other examples act as transitions and gateways. Once in the park they work as backdrops. Swap the Disneyland Hotel with Sleeping Beauty's Castle. Swap Hotel Mira Costa with Mount Prometheus for an apt comparison. Universal is using the hotel as the Focal Point, the Icon, The Weenie. If having high-end hotels abutting the park was a slippery slope, Epic Universe has gone right off a cliff.
And to my original point, "I can't imagine the response if Disney built a new park whose centerpiece was a high-end hotel."
You are trying to make an absurd arbitrary distinction and folks are rightfully refusing to acknowledge it. The idea that having a hotel at the back of the park is more troublesome then having it be the very first thing you see, something you literally pass through to enter the park or something that makes up the majority of an entire lands structures is desperate hair-splitting.

I discussed above why you are almost certainly grossly overstating the prominence of the hotel upon entering the park.

You also continue to completely misunderstand complaints about Disney’s hierarchizing behavior. If Disney wanted to turn the castle into a hotel while keeping all existing public areas the same and not impacting the experience of normal guests, it would be a bad idea, but it would not be the kind of hierarchizing behavior that is destroying the parks.
 

Casper Gutman

Well-Known Member
The Celestial Realm being a sort of CityWalk was an idea from early in the development process that never made it out of ideation. The park will have one gate out front that riffs on the Studios entry with an arch.
Thanks! Somehow I completely missed that! It does seem like all the park’s sit-down restaurants are located in that area - is that correct?
 

J4546

Well-Known Member
I think the park looks cool, not amazing but very solid start. I'm mostly interested in monsters and Nintendo land, but hp and Raya look cool too. Seems like it might barely be an all day park

Raya also looks like the largest land on concept art and even though I've never seen Raya, it does look like it could be the coolest land in the park.
 

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