Universal Epic Universe (South Expansion Complex) - Now Open!

[celluloid]

The problem is that there's no guarantee something is under construction in 3 years or less, especially if the current economic climate doesn't change. Neither Disney nor Universal often follow through with supposed Phase Bs.

I think it's very unlikely they start any major construction projects at EU anytime soon.

Never a guarantee on anything. But that does not change reality on why budget is spread the way it is when there are currently plans otherwise.
It is all a balance.

 

[celluloid]

Stop treating Universal with kid gloves. Stop acting like landscaping is expensive for a company this big and powerful. Again, “it will look better in 10-20 years when we add stuff” is a very poor excuse to not just add some more trees and basic thematic touches.

I am not. Read again what I wrote. I never said ten to 20 years is a reasonable amount of time. I also said some are oversights. Being reasonable is not kid-gloved.

 

[Tom Morrow]

I don’t have a full opinion on monsters unchained…. As I prefer to save any critiques until after I experience it…. But after seeing the video I have downgraded my expectation. .. as from that POV …it does not appear to be greater then Rise of the Resistance as some have hyped it to be

Monsters is a great dark ride, but it is not better than Rise and I could write an essay on why (I might). Though personal preferences apply, I think people tend to be dazzled by the feelings of experiencing something new and conflate those emotions to their 10th ride on Rise or whatever.

 

[celluloid]

Monsters is a great dark ride, but it is not better than Rise and I could write an essay on why (I might). Though personal preferences apply, I think people tend to be dazzled by the feelings of experiencing something new and conflate those emotions to their 10th ride in Rise or whatever.

Different categories altogether of rides.

Right down to audience and height requirements/accessibility being completely different.
The basis of both being great designs and goals from Trowbridge based designs of decades ago that grew to polished.

 

[jrhwdw]

You know that Uni has a habit of closing their theme parks early in the evening, right?

Maybe.. just maybe... they'll keep this open later, especially if it has a spectacular night show.

That'll kill their other parks, and CityWalk for the evenings, tho.

Oh don't worry! I will give my Opinion if EU gets Crappy Hours and doesn't have a Nighttime Spectacular!

 

[drew81]

Berk's most egregious sightlines in order:

1. Untrainable Dragon Theater (the most preventable)
2. Stardust Racers
3. Helios Grand Hotel
4. Parking lot seen from theater entrance plaza (should have been fixed with dirt mound and trees)
5. Backside of Celestial Park Mexican/Italian restaurant (painting it go away green and having trees in front isn't enough)

I hope they fix these asap.

 

[UNCgolf]

Monsters is a great dark ride, but it is not better than Rise and I could write an essay on why (I might). Though personal preferences apply, I think people tend to be dazzled by the feelings of experiencing something new and conflate those emotions to their 10th ride on Rise or whatever.

How does it compare to Forbidden Journey from a ride design standpoint? I found FJ very disappointing and not close to one of the best dark rides in the world because so much of the ride is just a simulator. I think the Jurassic Park River Adventure (at least if fully working) is a better ride than FJ, e.g.

I get the impression that Monsters offers more than FJ (and the AAs are amazing), but I haven't watched anything and don't plan to.

 

[Baloo124]

Seeing stuff like the Helios hotel from within lands is debatable.

True.
Everyone likes to hold Tokyo DisneySea on the top pedestal in the theme park world (and for good reason). Even it has a hotel sightline issue, which doesn't ruin that park either.

 

[Disney Analyst]

Monsters is a great dark ride, but it is not better than Rise and I could write an essay on why (I might). Though personal preferences apply, I think people tend to be dazzled by the feelings of experiencing something new and conflate those emotions to their 10th ride on Rise or whatever.

Right. It also probably comes down to the audience and their nostalgia for an IP.

I have no personal nostalgia or reverence for Universal Monsters. I mean I appreciate the history, but that’s it.

This ride was never going to hit the same way as Rise for me.

MoM on the other hand…

 

[celluloid]

Right. It also probably comes down to the audience and their nostalgia for an IP.

I have no personal nostalgia or reverence for Universal Monsters. I mean I appreciate the history, but that’s it.

This ride was never going to hit the same way as Rise for me.

MoM on the other hand…

That is the beauty of it itself. They are loosely based on the classic but their own spin and incarnation.


The fact that the legends got a major attraction dark ride and a land at all is amazing in the current what's hottest climate.
I think that is what is blowing a lot of people away.

 

[drew81]

Monsters could be mostly fixed by just beefing up the existing treeline. The backside of the building (Oak and Star?) that you can see from between the village and Werewolf should also have had theming applied, but a thicker wall of trees would hide it better.

Berk, on the other hand, needed a berm hill surrounding it with trees on top of the berm. It's too late to do that, unfortunately.

What also could use some love is the Unchained show building facing the Helios pool area.

 

[Brer Oswald]

Monsters is a great dark ride, but it is not better than Rise and I could write an essay on why (I might). Though personal preferences apply, I think people tend to be dazzled by the feelings of experiencing something new and conflate those emotions to their 10th ride on Rise or whatever.

I felt nothing on my first ride on Rise.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

I'm not going to defend Werewolf, which was a last minute addition, but Disney does the exact same thing. So if Dark Universe doesn't reach Disney-level theming, that isn't the reason why.

Where Disney does this, though, I would argue they also fall short of the standards they themselves set. To be honest, I can't quite think of an example as obvious of a relatively un-themed addition set down in the midst of an otherwise highly-themed land, but the point still stands. You just have to look at most threads on other sub-forums on here to see how many of us criticise them when they, too, fall short.

Yeah, I've honestly found some of this discussion interesting in that it seems like Universal is getting a pass (or even praise) for things that would get criticism if Disney did it (especially from certain people).

And I say that as someone who is highly critical of current Disney. I'm treating Universal the same as I treat Disney in terms of criticism but it feels like I'm more negative/less impressed overall than many others.

I feel exactly the same way. It is kind of interesting as I feel slightly sheepish pointing out issues that I know would inspire pages of criticism if we were talking about a new Disney park or land as there seems such little concern about their relevance when discussing Universal. This is despite all the talk about this park representing a new standard in theme park design, or at least being equal to Disney at its best. Criticising the fonts or graphics on signs for Tiana's Bayou Adventure for not seeming time period-appropriate seems completely par for the course (and I did that!), but apparently massive sightline issues here deserve mostly a shrug.

 

[mergatroid]

Looks a fantastic park with a lot of great theming and I'll definitely visit it when I return to Orlando whenever that may be. One criticism is it does look a bit too spaced out in areas and some of the site lines aren't what you would expect. I think overall it's brilliant but perhaps the expectations were too high because of what some were predicting? Monsters theming looks incredible though the pacing of the attraction looks slightly rushed with the storyline similarly paced to FJ and even Gringotts, though that may well be a personal opinion. I was actually thinking it would be more a Haunted Mansion type pace story wise as you wove your way around the castle. Again I'd done no research before so that's not Universal's fault as it's not like my expectations were formed through anything they had said so that's on me.

Coasters look extremely good fun to me and well coasters are coasters. When you're building them that big and fast it's virtually impossible to hide what they are, you have to be realistic about that. I do like the roaming actors in the various lands, kind of reminds me of the Studios with COH before they were axed and replaced to some extent with the odd Star Wars character who's interactions are far less engaging and personal.

One question that I'm hoping can be answered. A quick look on google seems to bring up multi day tickets only with Epic Universe only appearing as a strictly 1 day only option on a multi day ticket? From the UK the cheapest ticket including Epic is a minimum £450 per person ticket? Is this correct or is my search misleading me? If not are there plans to sell just 1 day Epic tickets on their own at any stage, there must be (if not already and I've not found them)?

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

Based purely on that 3 minute video, the Monsters Unchained ride looks incredible. I don't like Rise, so I won't even bother to bring it up as a standard. But this Monsters ride also looks even better that Forbidden Journey to me. I'm actually shocked as I did not expect to be THIS impressed...

 

[celluloid]

Where Disney does this, though, I would argue they also fall short of the standards they themselves set. To be honest, I can't quite think of an example as obvious of a relatively un-themed addition set down in the midst of an otherwise highly-themed land, but the point still stands. You just have to look at most threads on other sub-forums on here to see how many of us criticise them when they, too, fall short.


I feel exactly the same way. It is kind of interesting as I feel slightly sheepish pointing out issues that I know would inspire pages of criticism if we were talking about a new Disney park or land as there seems such little concern about their relevance when discussing Universal. This is despite all the talk about this park representing a new standard in theme park design, or at least being equal to Disney at its best. Criticising the fonts or graphics on signs for Tiana's Bayou Adventure for not seeming time period-appropriate seems completely par for the course (and I did that!), but apparently massive sightline issues here deserve mostly a shrug.

The comparison is relative and evident in the info there though. The number one money earning famous theme park resort company in the world vs their closest competitor. The competitor has new theme park and resort expansion that will have some flaws for sure, however the best we can compare is a retheme of the most renowned log flume has been rethemed with shortcuts and choices. Even at its best, it is a big jump.

 

[celluloid]

One question that I'm hoping can be answered. A quick look on google seems to bring up multi day tickets only with Epic Universe only appearing as a strictly 1 day only option on a multi day ticket? From the UK the cheapest ticket including Epic is a minimum £450 per person ticket? Is this correct or is my search misleading me? If not are there plans to sell just 1 day Epic tickets on their own at any stage, there must be (if not already and I've not found them)?

One day tickets have been avalible for a bit recently. If you are sure you can be back within a year your beat bet may be to get an Annual Pass and get a day at a time ticket to EPIC at a discount with your Annual Pass.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

The comparison is relative and evident in the info there though. The number one money earning famous theme park resort company in the world vs their closest competitor. The competitor has new theme park and resort expansion that will have some flaws for sure, however the best we can compare is a retheme of the most renowned log flume has been rethemed with shortcuts and choices. Even at its best, it is a big jump.

The idea was to give a recent example of the different levels at which theming seem to get critiqued, not to draw a comparison between Tiana and Epic Universe. There are plenty of other examples, bigger and smaller, from Disney.

At any rate, none of this is to suggest people are wrong from being so excited for and impressed by Epic. It's probably more the way the Disney vs Universal rivalry plays out online, including the heralding of every new Universal project (Volcano Bay is another that comes to mind) as surpassing Disney or something of which Disney is terrified. It's hard then not to then look at pictures and videos, hear reports, etc. when the project opens and not consider what the response would be if it was a new Disney venture.

 

[celluloid]

It's hard then not to then look at pictures and videos, hear reports, etc. when the project opens and not consider what the response would be if it was a new Disney venture.

Why do you think that is?

A large part because recently, people would be happy(even with nerdy scrutiny with Disney doing a very ture of this scale.)

Even with the abstract dryness critiques of Celestial Park. It is classy and nails the EPCOT entrance Plaza revamp better than what EPCOT did in most enthusiasts' eyes. And this was brand new infrastructure as part of an entirely new park and resort expansion(mileage may vary)

 

[James Alucobond]

Even with the abstract dryness of Celestial Park. It is classy and nails the EPCOT entrance Plaza revamp better than what EPCOT did in most fans eyes. And this was brand new infrastructure as part of an entirely new park and resort expansion(mileage may vary)

Aside from having water, it nails basically nothing about the EPCOT vibe. That's not to say it's not relatively better than the EPCOT redo or even lovely in its own way, but it's by no means what EPCOT should look like.