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

[The Grand Inquisitor]

I’m hoping we will see a few surprises at universal Orlando’s fourth park. I understand back to the future is getting a musical most of you think it won’t be in the new park but the popularity of this franchise continues on. A deloreon movie is coming out this summer with Alec Baldwin playing John Deloreon it would just be cool seeing a hill valley section at the new park with a e-ticket attraction maybe the BTTF launched coaster concept. This is an old Universal IP but it has seemed to live on for years and years. Personally I think this would attract as much visitors to the new park more than or about the same as Nintendo and Fantastic Beasts even How to train your dragon. Back to the future even came out on top in a poll of what movies you would like to see remade. Doc Brown and Co. will never go away but you think the theme park stuff is over and done with. I certainly hope not. Jaws, Earthquake, Ghosbusters, Twister, Terminator are all gone too. King Kong is back and he is still present with Kong:Skull Island coming out in 2017 from WB and Kong vs Godzilla coming out in 2020. Legendary has the rights to Kong not Godzilla so his future presence at Fantastic Worlds could still very well be possible. Universal owns him still.

Bro you obsess over this all the time. Godzilla and back to the future are NEVER coming to universal studios. Except it and move on. You post the same thing over again in this chat and on the inside universal fourms as well. Its nothing against you but please stop repeating it.

 

[WDWFREAK53]

I would love one of the lands be a "toy-based" adventure land to combat Toy Story Land.

Correct me if I'm wrong (and I very well could be) but...
Dreamworks owns the rights to Voltron, Masters of the Universe, She-Ra
Universal owns the movie rights to Barbie
They could also add a Transformers attraction in.

Where do the rights for Ninja Turtles fall?

 

[The Grand Inquisitor]

I would love one of the lands be a "toy-based" adventure land to combat Toy Story Land.

Correct me if I'm wrong (and I very well could be) but...
Dreamworks owns the rights to Voltron, Masters of the Universe, She-Ra
Universal owns the movie rights to Barbie
They could also add a Transformers attraction in.

Where do the rights for Ninja Turtles fall?

TMNT is owned by viacom. Transformers already has a ride at Universals Studios Florida.

 

[OG Runner]

I have heard about Nintendo and Pokémon attractions. I have not heard anything about Universals own recent IPs
like Kung Fu Panda, Madagascar, How to Train Your Dragon, or even Shrek. (I know they have an attraction in the
current parks, but I have not heard a lot good about it.) Any ideas why?

 

[WDWFREAK53]

TMNT is owned by viacom. Transformers already has a ride at Universals Studios Florida.

I understand that they have a ride over at USF but that's based on the movies. This could be a land based on the toy versions.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

I have heard about Nintendo and Pokémon attractions. I have not heard anything about Universals own recent IPs
like Kung Fu Panda, Madagascar, How to Train Your Dragon, or even Shrek. (I know they have an attraction in the
current parks, but I have not heard a lot good about it.) Any ideas why?

Expect Dreamworks to have a significant presence in the new park.

 

[Andy Whitfield]

I’d love to have an updated Jaws ride that’s still fundamentally a boat ride with physical sets. I don’t think there is much chance if this happening though

 

[Animaniac93-98]

I’d love to have an updated Jaws ride that’s still fundamentally a boat ride with physical sets. I don’t think there is much chance if this happening though

It's much easier to just book a flight to Osaka.

 

[lebeau]

I would love one of the lands be a "toy-based" adventure land to combat Toy Story Land.

Correct me if I'm wrong (and I very well could be) but...
Dreamworks owns the rights to Voltron, Masters of the Universe, She-Ra
Universal owns the movie rights to Barbie
They could also add a Transformers attraction in.

Where do the rights for Ninja Turtles fall?

Movie rights don't necessarily equate to theme park rights. But a Barbie land could be pretty darn cool. Voltron and Masters are well past their expiration dates. I know She-Ra has a Netflix cartoon but I can't imagine it's popular enough to warrant theme park treatment. Transformers is already represented well enough.

Even if you had all those, I don't see how you could form a coherent land out of them even if they are toys. I thin it would come off as a cheap attempt at ripping of Toy Story Land which isn't great to begin with.

 

[WDWFREAK53]

Movie rights don't necessarily equate to theme park rights. But a Barbie land could be pretty darn cool. Voltron and Masters are well past their expiration dates. I know She-Ra has a Netflix cartoon but I can't imagine it's popular enough to warrant theme park treatment. Transformers is already represented well enough.

Even if you had all those, I don't see how you could form a coherent land out of them even if they are toys. I thin it would come off as a cheap attempt at ripping of Toy Story Land which isn't great to begin with.

I always look at Universal as taking what Disney does and making it a little "rougher and more extreme" but not necessarily better.

Where TSL represents Andy's backyard and we are shrunk down to the level of the toys, I think you go the "Universal Studios" route and say, "Where you can ride your childlike imagination" Rather than have a giant "Toy Land" that's all cohesive, you have smaller mini-lands of toy-IPs similar to pavilions at Epcot.

Masters of the Universe has a movie coming out in 2021...which, if it does well, could introduce She-Ra and make her relevant beyond just the Netflix show. Voltron seems to have a bit of a resurgence. Even LEGO did a Voltron set this year.

A Hot Wheels mini area could be cool too.

 

[Ripken10]

Masters of the Universe has a movie coming out in 2021.

I believe currently the movie is slated for 2020. It has been flipping around a bit, but the most recent change was to 2020.

 

[trr1]

[B]bioreconstruct[/B]‏ @[B]bioreconstruct[/B] 16h16 hours ago

Aerial overview of Universal Orlando's expansion property. (Fantastic Worlds)

 

[Magenta Panther]

I would like a dark ride built around Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer. The TV special is still popular after all these years, and Rudolph himself is well-known to the current generation, unlike some other vintage IPs which Dreamworks owns (IPs such as Casper the Friendly Ghost and Felix the Cat). The idea of a snowy land in the middle of tropical Florida is still enchanting to me - a concept I had hoped would be applied to Frozen (before it was shoehorned into Norway). I think such a ride would be very popular, and I don't think the fact that the ride would have a Christmas theme would matter in the least. Make it so, Universal!

 

[JT3000]

I always look at Universal as taking what Disney does and making it a little "rougher and more extreme" but not necessarily better.

Where TSL represents Andy's backyard and we are shrunk down to the level of the toys, I think you go the "Universal Studios" route and say, "Where you can ride your childlike imagination" Rather than have a giant "Toy Land" that's all cohesive, you have smaller mini-lands of toy-IPs similar to pavilions at Epcot.

Masters of the Universe has a movie coming out in 2021...which, if it does well, could introduce She-Ra and make her relevant beyond just the Netflix show. Voltron seems to have a bit of a resurgence. Even LEGO did a Voltron set this year.

A Hot Wheels mini area could be cool too.

If it's not a cohesive land, your idea immediately unravels. Especially when most of the IPs you named are not things current children would even recognize, and the key demographic of any toy-themed attraction will obviously have to be children. Which leads to the ultimate reason this wouldn't work: The need to be updated on a regular basis with whatever kids are currently into. It's just not sustainable unless it's an IP with proven staying power whose core function isn't as a toy line, but has other facets to keep it popular with multiple demographics. Like Transformers (which doesn't need another attraction.)

 

[Tick Tock]

Rudolph is the most politically incorrect holiday special out there. I would not expected it to last much longer, the book burners are already trying to get rid of that show.

I haven't watched the cartoon in years, but seriously? A controversy over Rudolph?

I'm guessing it's due to the theme of bullying throughout until Rudolph is deemed a hero by his peers. I'm sure we can all agree that bullying is bad, but wasn't that the point?
What's next? Remove Gaston from BaTB, Scar from The Lion King, all because they feed the stereotype of jerks being jerks?

I guess this also means we won't have any Biff Tannen meet & greets whenever they open a BTTF land. Sorry, I had to.

 

[lebeau]

Rudolph is the most politically incorrect holiday special out there. I would not expected it to last much longer, the book burners are already trying to get rid of that show.

I haven't watched the cartoon in years, but seriously? A controversy over Rudolph?

I'm guessing it's due to the theme of bullying throughout until Rudolph is deemed a hero by his peers. I'm sure we can all agree that bullying is bad, but wasn't that the point?
What's next? Remove Gaston from BaTB, Scar from The Lion King, all because they feed the stereotype of jerks being jerks?

I guess this also means we won't have any Biff Tannen meet & greets whenever they open a BTTF land. Sorry, I had to.

I think Corey is greatly overstating the level of controversy. Having said that, if you haven't watched Rudolph in a while it's pretty shocking to sit down and watch it. Just about every character in the show bullies Rudolph including Santa Claus and his own father. It's a relic of a bygone era. If someone was adapting the material today, it would be done very differently.

I don't know who these "book burners" are who are supposedly trying to do away with Rudolph. People have commented on how weirdly cruel everyone is to Rudolph. I mean, it's really strange when the adults including Santa essentially sanction Rudolph's bullying. So, yeah, people talk about it. But there's not a serious call to ban Rudolph. "Baby It's Cold Outside", on the other hand...

As for a Rudolph attraction, I wouldn't be against it, but there are better ways Universal can invest in the parks. Bringing back Jaws, Beetlejuice or Back to the Future would make a lot more sense. And I don't see any of those things happening. We're getting a new park. Get excited for Nintendo, Dreamworks, Fantastic Beasts and Universal Monsters. Especially Universal Monsters.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

I don't know who these "book burners" are who are supposedly trying to do away with Rudolph.

They don't exist.

Rudolph is still a nostalgic cash cow that fuels merchandise, home video sales and commercial time slots.

Now that the pre-1974 Rankin/Bass library is owned by Dreamworks, they're not going to let their biggest property disappear.

 

[Magenta Panther]

They don't exist.

Rudolph is still a nostalgic cash cow that fuels merchandise, home video sales and commercial time slots.

Now that the pre-1974 Rankin/Bass library is owned by Dreamworks, they're not going to let their biggest property disappear.

THANK YOU.

My god, some people really put the "flake" in "snowflake".

Of COURSE Rudolph gets bullied, DUH! The story is all about the evils of intolerance, and accepting those who are different. In order for that story to get told, people had to turn against Rudolph, yes, even that ultimate authority figure, Santa. If he had scolded the reindeer for bullying Rudolph, then the reindeer would probably have obeyed him and then, well, THE END. Rudolph would never have had to overcome adversity and prejudice and become a hero. As such, the theme of his story is timeless. A bunch of "woke" pansies can't change that. Plus, the Rudolph special is still run on network television every year and scores excellent ratings. So yeah, the heck with SJW angst. I still say a Rudolph dark ride could be amazing. I hope Universal considers it. Rudolph has easily proven to have as much staying power as Harry Potter, so why not?

 

[Tom Morrow]

The thing about stories like that’s is it’s usually a very, very small fringe group of people making a fuss about it. The media catches onto them and blows it out of proportion because they know it’ll make waves.

The same thing happened with “Baby It’s Cold Outside.” A few websites pointed out that the lyrics are a little creepy - only when taken out of context. Next thing you know there were a few radio stations that pulled it. There was not a massive uproar to ban the song.

In other words, it’s all media-manufactured outrage to distract you from the real issues.

 

[lebeau]

So exactly how many years of people pitching their pet projects are we in for here? Asking for a friend.