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

BubbaQuest

BubbaQuest

Well-Known Member
MansionButler84 said:
Can anyone estimate how far this is from the existing parks? I don’t mean distance, really. I could check a map. But how long of a bus ride? Or would it be possible to have another mass transit option? I assume this is a bit different from WDW in that Universal doesn’t own a continuous parcel of land containing the existing resort and this new park, right?
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This is a big unknown. There are plans to extend Kirkman Rd to the new park entrance. As far as I know this has been approved for construction, but not sure if it will open in time or if it will be used by Uni for transit.

The other unknown is the rail system from the airport to the Convention Center. As far as I know, the chances of this happening are about the same as Uni lowering their ticket prices :). In some of the early Uni presentations to the city for land development, there were some "transit" spaces shown on the north side of Uni Blvd. It's not clear if this might be for a rail extension or just something similar to the water taxis at the existing Resort.

If Kirkman opens in time, anybody have an idea how long it would take to drive from Major Drive down Kirkman to the new intersection at Uni Blvd?
 
JoeCamel

JoeCamel

Well-Known Member
BubbaQuest said:
This is a big unknown. There are plans to extend Kirkman Rd to the new park entrance. As far as I know this has been approved for construction, but not sure if it will open in time or if it will be used by Uni for transit.

The other unknown is the rail system from the airport to the Convention Center. As far as I know, the chances of this happening are about the same as Uni lowering their ticket prices :). In some of the early Uni presentations to the city for land development, there were some "transit" spaces shown on the north side of Uni Blvd. It's not clear if this might be for a rail extension or just something similar to the water taxis at the existing Resort.

If Kirkman opens in time, anybody have an idea how long it would take to drive from Major Drive down Kirkman to the new intersection at Uni Blvd?
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There are dedicated bus lanes shown on the extension ala Disney Springs so that should help with the flow.
 
DisneyDodo

DisneyDodo

Well-Known Member
JT3000 said:
If there's enough room to add entire lands after opening, they've done something very wrong. Having some expansion pads for individual attractions is alright, but no one likes a half-built park.
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It is widely rumored that they will be allocating space for entire new lands (or "worlds") in the future. With the new model of lands being dedicated to a very specific collection of IPs, this is really the only way they would be able to add future big IPs into the park, without replacing something. When you have more generic and lightly themed lands (e.g. New York at USF), you are much less constrained when it comes to new additions.

Anyway, the new park is big enough such that it doesn't need to be filled to the brim in order to be a full-day park - the plot for the park is bigger than the other Orlando Uni parks, and it won't include a lagoon. There should be more to do than any of the non-MK WDW parks, for example.
 
OrlandoIsTheBest6124

OrlandoIsTheBest6124

Member
Not trying to beat on a dead horse but just as a backup plan I really hope this world or themed land can come to the Fantastic Worlds or untitled 4th Universal Orlando Park. With back to the future in the media I don’t understand why people wouldn’t think it would be cool to bring back this classic franchise to a Orlando park. With a few references in movies these days from BTTF the popularity of the franchise has not completely died. I know people want to forget this classic attractions and focus on something new yes but what about the people who never experienced them?
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lazyboy97o

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
OrlandoIsTheBest6124 said:
Not trying to beat on a dead horse but just as a backup plan I really hope this world or themed land can come to the Fantastic Worlds or untitled 4th Universal Orlando Park. With back to the future in the media I don’t understand why people wouldn’t think it would be cool to bring back this classic franchise to a Orlando park. With a few references in movies these days from BTTF the popularity of the franchise has not completely died. I know people want to forget this classic attractions and focus on something new yes but what about the people who never experienced them?
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Are you talking about Back to the Future? It won’t be in the new park.
 
lebeau

lebeau

Well-Known Member
OrlandoIsTheBest6124 said:
Not trying to beat on a dead horse but just as a backup plan I really hope this world or themed land can come to the Fantastic Worlds or untitled 4th Universal Orlando Park. With back to the future in the media I don’t understand why people wouldn’t think it would be cool to bring back this classic franchise to a Orlando park. With a few references in movies these days from BTTF the popularity of the franchise has not completely died. I know people want to forget this classic attractions and focus on something new yes but what about the people who never experienced them?
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I would argue that people who never experienced the original attractions, for the most part, have no idea that they may have missed out on anything. In 1985, no one was a bigger Back to the Future fan than me. But almost 35 years later, it's just not relevant enough to build a theme park attraction around. And it will continue to fade as time goes on. Having the vehicles out and Doc doing meet and greets seems like the right level of investment in Back to the Future.

Jaws on the other hand...
 
WDWFREAK53

WDWFREAK53

Well-Known Member
lebeau said:
I would argue that people who never experienced the original attractions, for the most part, have no idea that they may have missed out on anything. In 1985, no one was a bigger Back to the Future fan than me. But almost 35 years later, it's just not relevant enough to build a theme park attraction around. And it will continue to fade as time goes on. Having the vehicles out and Doc doing meet and greets seems like the right level of investment in Back to the Future.

Jaws on the other hand...
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The idea of time travel will always be relevant. Back to the Future may be fading out of popularity but the theme won't.

Ghostbusters on the other hand...it doesn't matter how many crappy movies they pump out, the idea and characters will be popular with kids. Merchandising alone is enough of a reason to have a Ghostbusters attraction. I'd love a ride in Ecto-1 or a ride vehicle that's created by the Ghostbusters similar to MIB.
 
lebeau

lebeau

Well-Known Member
WDWFREAK53 said:
The idea of time travel will always be relevant. Back to the Future may be fading out of popularity but the theme won't.

Ghostbusters on the other hand...it doesn't matter how many crappy movies they pump out, the idea and characters will be popular with kids. Merchandising alone is enough of a reason to have a Ghostbusters attraction. I'd love a ride in Ecto-1 or a ride vehicle that's created by the Ghostbusters similar to MIB.
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Time travel is practically a genre unto itself. Sure, there will always be time travel stories. But Back to the Future is a very specific time travel story that is rooted in the mid-eighties with lots of nostalgia for the 50's. Old timers like me still have a lot of affection for it and I'm sure many have passed that along to their kids. But Doc Brown, the DeLorean and the Power of Love become more obscure the farther we get from the movies.

You could do a time travel-themed ride. But why base it around BttF? How would you even do that now that the actors are mostly aged out of their roles?

Ghostbusters and Men in Black are very similar concepts. I remember the first MIB being compared to Ghostbusters when it came out. Later, Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman ripped off his own movie and Barry Sonnenfeld's when he made Evolution. Reitman successfully proved that special effects comedies are really hard to pull off.

Of the two, I think there would be more appetite for a Ghostbusters attraction than Back to the Future. But I don't see either as a pressing need. It's probably worth reiterating my stance that IP's are of minor importance compared to execution. I'll take a good Jason Bourne stunt show over a poor show themed to a movie I love despite the fact I don't really care about Bourne one way or another.
 
JoeCamel

JoeCamel

Well-Known Member
lebeau said:
Time travel is practically a genre unto itself. Sure, there will always be time travel stories. But Back to the Future is a very specific time travel story that is rooted in the mid-eighties with lots of nostalgia for the 50's. Old timers like me still have a lot of affection for it and I'm sure many have passed that along to their kids. But Doc Brown, the DeLorean and the Power of Love become more obscure the farther we get from the movies.

You could do a time travel-themed ride. But why base it around BttF? How would you even do that now that the actors are mostly aged out of their roles?

Ghostbusters and Men in Black are very similar concepts. I remember the first MIB being compared to Ghostbusters when it came out. Later, Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman ripped off his own movie and Barry Sonnenfeld's when he made Evolution. Reitman successfully proved that special effects comedies are really hard to pull off.

Of the two, I think there would be more appetite for a Ghostbusters attraction than Back to the Future. But I don't see either as a pressing need. It's probably worth reiterating my stance that IP's are of minor importance compared to execution. I'll take a good Jason Bourne stunt show over a poor show themed to a movie I love despite the fact I don't really care about Bourne one way or another.
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Dr Who......
 
lebeau

lebeau

Well-Known Member
trr1 said:
whats Jaws?;) more relevant is Sharknado 🤣
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Jaws is admittedly old. But sharks are timeless. And if you're going to do an attraction based around a shark, you might as well accompany that with one of the most iconic scores in film history seeing as how Universal has the rights.

Although Sharknado offers something for fans of both Jaws and Twister. Seems like a fair compromise.
 
JoeCamel

JoeCamel

Well-Known Member
lebeau said:
Jaws is admittedly old. But sharks are timeless. And if you're going to do an attraction based around a shark, you might as well accompany that with one of the most iconic scores in film history seeing as how Universal has the rights.

Although Sharknado offers something for fans of both Jaws and Twister. Seems like a fair compromise.
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Plus Spielberg = Universal They are joined at the hip
 

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