SplashJacket
Well-Known Member
Suess and Super hero are ugly. The rest are fantastic.
Nothing as ugly as half of Studios both Hollywood and Universal.
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Universal Epic Universe (South Expansion Complex) - Opens May 22 2025
- Thread starter Bob Harlem
- Start date
Nothing as ugly as half of Studios both Hollywood and Universal.
999th Happy Haunt
Well-Known Member
The current stretch all the way from Port of Entry through Seuss to Kong is real nice and pretty (if a bit maintenance dependent in Seuss's case). Toon Lagoon and Marvel aren't the prettiest looking but their rides are good.
Tom Morrow
Well-Known Member
I've always felt that IOA is 60% impressively themed (Port of Entry, Skull/JP, Hogsmeade, and Lost Continent) and 40% "fill it with lots of tacky clutter" (Marvel, Seuss, Toon Lagoon).
999th Happy Haunt
Well-Known Member
I will not be accepting Seuss slander. Flawless execution of such a distinct style. There is literally no doubt what anything in that land is themed after.
Andrew25
Well-Known Member
Seuss has its issues, but it's a marvelous area. To each their own, but it's a wonderfully designed area with great attractions for its designated audience.
Tom Morrow
Well-Known Member
I have two problems with it:
1. Much of the theming is just slabs of concrete or plastic or metal painted one or two solid colors. It gives it a look of "concrete jungle" rather than the whimsical setting they were going for.
2. The solid colors everywhere require everything in the place to look absolutely pristine to look good. The second it starts fading* or isn't power washed well enough it starts looking cheap and junky. And, well, Universal doesn't refresh it enough for it to stay looking nice (and to be fair it's hard to keep things like this looking fresh in Florida, hence why I'm a little concerned about how Super Nintendo World will hold up in the Florida elements.)
*I am aware that the colors are supposed to be pastel shades, but there's a difference between a well saturated pastel surface and a sun-bleached pastel surface.
Like I'm not being hyperbolic here, I think Seuss Landing might be the second ugliest spot in any Orlando park behind the entrance / music plaza of USF.
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I have the same concern about Mario. Japan's climate is similar, but not quite, and their attention is impeccable.
Universal used to be much better at nightly checks and touch ups in what was needed in the first decade of IOA. Potter gets a lot of the touch up attention now.
I maintain that Suess looks better than most of Disney's upkeep of the front of EPCOT and Main Street USA's faded, worn and ugly for similar reasons.
I don't see the concrete jungle thought, because there is plenty of real palm trees all wonky and growing and the design of everything is right out of the books and 60s cartoons.
The uhh..Venn Diagram, yeah, in EPCOT's changes that were supposed to take that feeling away still feel like an urban park.
Animaniac93-98
Well-Known Member
Far Far Away and Egypt are the standout areas of USS to me.
TalkToEthan
Well-Known Member
Super Hero is loaded with bombastic architecture and showcasing embarrassing 2 dimensional fronts but still worse is the noise: pounding piped in noise throughout the land.
Suess Landing’s appeal relies heavily on the paint can.
at its opening in turn of the century and after fresh paint jobs it brings the books and animated features to life beautifully. But during neglect, which has been often over the 1/4 century, the place looks beaten, overused and well, ugly.
Earlie the Pearlie
Well-Known Member
If Suess had a maintenance schedule on an OCL level, it would be world class.
Hot take: Super Hero Island is now old enough that it is retro, and thus, potentially timeless.
This is one of the benefits of not updating an area! Modernism isn't modern for long, but if something is around for long enough, anything can be nostalgic.
Hot take: Super Hero Island is now old enough that it is retro, and thus, potentially timeless.
This is one of the benefits of not updating an area! Modernism isn't modern for long, but if something is around for long enough, anything can be nostalgic.
Andrew25
Well-Known Member
Marvel - I'm not an entirely huge fan on the land, but it does fit it's original design intention. It's meant to be edgy and loud. While there are certainly things they can improve on, it's the best design choice for an all-encompassing hero land unless you go the full-immersive environment way set on a specific character's locale.
Seuss - they've worked on fixing up the land in the past year or so, it's looking a lot better.
Don't get me wrong, Universal certainly has its issues, but a lot of them stem from the pre-Potter days and their recent additions have been nothing but aesthetically pleasing.
Seuss - they've worked on fixing up the land in the past year or so, it's looking a lot better.
Don't get me wrong, Universal certainly has its issues, but a lot of them stem from the pre-Potter days and their recent additions have been nothing but aesthetically pleasing.
sonoma15
Well-Known Member
Clearly yall don't go to the parks often because it's pretty rare to see Suess now without construction walls somewhere with something being refurbed/repainted. They have been in a constant battle with refurbing the land for months.
Earlie the Pearlie
Well-Known Member
I’m aware, and grateful! I just think that the area is designed in such a way that it needs to be repainted twice a month to look good! (I exaggerate, but slightly)
I think treating Seuss Landing as an inherently ugly land is dishonest (same goes for most of Toon Lagoon.) Does it get ugly when neglected? Yes, but you could say the same about literally any other park area. Seuss Landing is merely more high-maintenance than most. That said, they have had to make concessions. I miss the land's original all-pastel paint scheme. It's gotten progressively darker over the years (presumably) to combat sun fading & dirt, leading to an overall less whimsical vibe.
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If you want a few ground-level looks at How to Train Your Dragon - Isle of Berk, Universal Creative has posted quite a few stories around the area on their official Instagram account.
See the videos in their stories at https://www.instagram.com/universalcreativeofficial/
See the videos in their stories at https://www.instagram.com/universalcreativeofficial/
Disstevefan1
Well-Known Member
I am really looking forward to EPIC. the only area I was not so excited about was How to Train Your Dragon, but now I am getting excited about this area too.
I am surprised HOW FAST they are building this. Its interesting the order they do stuff, you can see final colors going on in places, and trees planted DURING the process and not waiting the end. Its interesting.
Could they complete this early???
Andrew25
Well-Known Member
Yeah, construction at this scale is always interesting. Monsters is getting its final concrete walkways in now, indicating no more "hard" construction in the land. Ministry is already seeing detailed signage/painting and HTTYD looks to be nearly done with rockwork. SNW surprisingly (especially the DK area) looks to be lagging behind a bit.
Sorcerer Mickey
Well-Known Member
The only official opening date is "2025". It's not opening before that.
Animaniac93-98
Well-Known Member
Were we supposed to get another land announcement this month?