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

Andrew25

Andrew25

Well-Known Member
Piebald said:
Also, the food looks interesting but I'll want to see real photos. Imo universals biggest challenge is how terrible their food is across the board. I hope they can rectify that with Epic.
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If Minions Cafe, Thunder Falls and Circus McGurkus are the standard, we should be fine.

They have still some operation challenges, but I hope a new park won't have it with proper staffing (at the sacrifice of the existing parks).
 
Moth

Moth

Well-Known Member
JoeCamel said:
It's a Boston Dynamics dog in a costume, cool but not groundbreaking. Disney could have done that long ago if it wasn't for ego
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It's a very well put together Boston Dynamics dog in a costume with a fully rigged head that can blink and emote. I think that's a huge step-forward for meet and greets going forward and expands what to do with M&Gs going forward.

While I have gripes with how DK came out for his M&G, I find his costume also very coherent at a technical level, at least unlike Hulk he's not a limited time deal, and unlike those droids and WALL-E, Dart will (presumably) be for the general public consistently versus being wheeled out for private events.

The real showstopper is the Toothless M&G which is going to likely be a more 'developed' version of this.
 
JoeCamel

JoeCamel

Well-Known Member
Moth said:
It's a very well put together Boston Dynamics dog in a costume with a fully rigged head that can blink and emote. I think that's a huge step-forward for meet and greets going forward and expands what to do with M&Gs going forward.

While I have gripes with how DK came out for his M&G, I find his costume also very coherent at a technical level, at least unlike Hulk he's not a limited time deal, and unlike those droids and WALL-E, Dart will (presumably) be for the general public consistently versus being wheeled out for private events.

The real showstopper is the Toothless M&G which is going to likely be a more 'developed' version of this.
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And a flying dragon.......
 
Agent H

Agent H

Well-Known Member
Moth said:
It's a very well put together Boston Dynamics dog in a costume with a fully rigged head that can blink and emote. I think that's a huge step-forward for meet and greets going forward and expands what to do with M&Gs going forward.

While I have gripes with how DK came out for his M&G, I find his costume also very coherent at a technical level, at least unlike Hulk he's not a limited time deal, and unlike those droids and WALL-E, Dart will (presumably) be for the general public consistently versus being wheeled out for private events.

The real showstopper is the Toothless M&G which is going to likely be a more 'developed' version of this.
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I wish they still had wall-e
 
A

andre85

Well-Known Member
JoeCamel said:
It's a Boston Dynamics dog in a costume, cool but not groundbreaking. Disney could have done that long ago if it wasn't for ego
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I don't think it matters how the illusion is achieved; it can still be groundbreaking by theme park standards even if it's reliant on pre-existing tech (which I didn't even notice until you pointed it out). No one cares that even at opening, Haunted Mansion's peppers ghost effect was over 100 years old because it felt believable within that environment. Having a character that people actually care about, convincingly brought to life, that can roam around, is going to blow people's minds (or at least the kids).

Disney is missing the boat once again (just like with the flying dragons) by not consistently showcasing their tech with characters really care about (Beaker and Dr. Bunsen Honeydew don't quite cut it...especially as they were tied to a vehicle) and regularly within a world built for them. Free roaming R2 or Wall-e is cool, but not THIS cool. Being themed to a robot isn't nearly as impressive as bringing a biological on-screen character to life.
 
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Agent H

Agent H

Well-Known Member
Nah
andre85 said:
I don't think it matters how the illusion is achieved; it can still be groundbreaking by theme park standards even if it's reliant on pre-existing tech (which I didn't even notice until you pointed it out). No one cares that even at opening, Haunted Mansion's peppers ghost effect was over 100 years old because it felt believable within that environment. Having a character that people actually care about, convincingly brought to life, that can roam around, is going to blow people's minds (or at least the kids).

Disney is missing the boat once again (just like with the flying dragons) by not consistently showcasing their tech with characters really care about (Beaker and Dr. Bunsen Honeydew don't quite cut it...especially as they were tied to a vehicle) and regularly within a world built for them. Free roaming R2 or Wall-e is cool, but not THIS cool. Being themed to a robot isn't nearly as impressive as bringing a biological on-screen character to life.
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wall-e would be better
 
Moth

Moth

Well-Known Member
Disney would turn heads if they used this tech for Simba. But instead Universal is going to steal this medal.

Don't worry! I hear two D23s from now they'll showcase a Simba that works 10x worse and costed 10x more!


Wait, Simba? I meant a random Star Wars alien: Glup Shiito. Can't use that tech for anything too big.
 
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Animaniac93-98

Animaniac93-98

Well-Known Member
Moth said:
Disney would turn heads if they used this tech for Simba. But instead Universal is going to steal this medal.

Don't worry! I hear two D23s from now they'll showcase a Simba that works 10x worse and costed 10x more!


Wait, Simba? I meant a random Star Wars alien: Glup Shiito. Can't use that tech for anything too big.
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It'll be used twice during a after hours party, and then never again.
 
eddie104

eddie104

Well-Known Member
Disneyhead'71 said:
And yet, here we are with a robot dog in a Dragon skin ready to entertain guests in a new theme park unlike anything seen before.
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That’s the funny thing that Disney the supposed leader in theme parks doesn’t even utilize this pre existing tech for their meet and greets.

Also they refuse to showcase any of their really cool tech outside of after hours events or highlights on random tv specials.

Universal is once again being an innovator where Disney could be but is slow to adopt.
 
D

DarkMetroid567

Well-Known Member
It’s probably no coincidence that the character they’re going with is Dart? I’d love to see this in the Disney parks but I can’t think of a super satisfying use case — a Simba or Dumbo would prob need to be a lot bigger and the risk of the robot looking bad is somewhat high.

We’ll have to see how long Dart lasts! Hopefully a while, it’d be a shame for it to be a limited thing.
 
Moth

Moth

Well-Known Member
DarkMetroid567 said:
It’s probably no coincidence that the character they’re going with is Dart? I’d love to see this in the Disney parks but I can’t think of a super satisfying use case — a Simba or Dumbo would prob need to be a lot bigger and the risk of the robot looking bad is somewhat high.

We’ll have to see how long Dart lasts! Hopefully a while, it’d be a shame for it to be a limited thing.
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Well here's the thing, we know that there's a Toothless meet and greet happening also. If it's the same type of M&G as Dart, then he'd have to be bigger and you see where I'm getting at.

I think for the size that Toothless is likely going to be, Simba is a realistic goal for Disney using the same tech?


We're all neglecting the true question.


Why IS Dart here?! That doesn't match the LORE!
 
D

DarkMetroid567

Well-Known Member
Moth said:
Well here's the thing, we know that there's a Toothless meet and greet happening also. If it's the same type of M&G as Dart, then he'd have to be bigger and you see where I'm getting at.

I think for the size that Toothless is likely going to be, Simba is a realistic goal for Disney using the same tech?
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I imagine that since Toothless will be stationary (right?) he may not need the same tech.
 

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