Universal Orlando Getting Bigger, Better, Wetter, Wilder

[BrerJon]

All depends on when Uni wants it open. From how it's been talked about i've gotten the impression that they would do it next decade, not anytime really soon. They're focused on beefing up their current parks first.

My guess is they'll keep beefing up the current resort, add another new hotel after Sapphire and the water park, then we'll mysteriously start to see work on the Lockheed site, but long before anything's announced.

Eventually we could find we have Universal North and Universal South, linked by bus transport, with South housing an extra park, a load of hotels, and a timeshare resort.

Backing onto the Convention Center, they would be in prime position to catch a lot of the Convention Center crowds who currently fill Pointe Orlando and are driving the I-Drive expansion. Now what do Convention-goers like to do at night? How about a Pleasure... I mean 'CityWalk 2' nightclub complex?

Can you imagine if all this came to pass? A fully built out North resort, then South resort with a new park, great hotels and nightclub district and all connected to I-Drive and the Convention Center.

I wonder how Disney would respond if all that happened?

 

[BrerJon]

I went to Disney World twice last year after a 23 year hiatus. I thought AK was a wonderfully themed park with a lack of rides, while HS was a mess with some cool rides. EPCOT made me sad, and New Fantasyland was a letdown. I can't believe the same Disney that created EPCOT created New Fantasyland,

Actually, many of the Imagineers who made WDW great are now working for Universal (Disney fired most of them about ten to fifteen years ago), so if you liked Disney for the quality and craftsmanship they used to bring to projects, you'll now find that all at Universal.

 

[BrerJon]

And of course I predict a Universal Express from the airport to come along soon too. I can see the balance of power shifting for many - instead of a Disney vacation where you figure out a way to get up I4 for a day or two, it's an I-Drive based vacation where you figure out a way to spend a day or two at Disney.

 

[doctornick]

You have definitly gotten the wrong impression of Uni. I am not a thrill ride fan, won't ride a coaster more intense then Big Thunder, I won't even go on Space Mountain, yet I can spend 3 days easy at Uni, and my wife loves it to. Last time I was there I saw plenty of women, and they seemed to be having a great time. Disney does have more for the real little ones, but beyond that, Uni and Disney are competing for the same audience.

Beyond "little ones" though, one thing that Disney has to a far greater degree than Uni is more tame/relaxing/family rides. Even if you ignore pure roller coaster/thrill rides, the rides at Uni tend to have a lot of motion and roughness to them. There are lots of adults who prefer rides that don't have that thrill/motion element and want to enjoy rides that are themselves experiences -- and that is what Disney was built on to a great extent.

It does sound like Uni has plans for more all ages rides that everyone can experience. I think this is to their credit and will help them in expanding their net in terms of potential guests.

 

[Tony Perkis]

Because I tend to visit Orlando a weekend at time. Either two days at Disney, or one day Disney/one day Universal. Buying a hopper for Universal just is an added expense that isn't needed.

I can be cheap and argumentative though...lol

How is a park hopper at Universal not worth it, but a park hopper at Disney is for only one day?

Or are you actually crazy enough to pay $100 to visit DHS alone?

 

[Voice of Disney sanity]

Their over reliance on screens is getting old as well.

Absolute proof of over exposure to pixie dust. As if WDW attractions don't heavily rely on screens and projections ....soarin, impressions de France, oh Canada, captain eo, tough to be a bug, mickeys pilharmagic,living seas with nemo and friends, universe of energy, mission space, star tours, muppets, laugh floor, circle of life, reflections of china, toy story midway mania, even Tower of terror and haunted mansion rely heavily on them!

 

[squidward]

Absolute proof of over exposure to pixie dust. As if WDW attractions don't heavily rely on screens and projections ....soarin, impressions de France, oh Canada, captain eo, tough to be a bug, mickeys pilharmagic,living seas with nemo and friends, universe of energy, mission space, star tours, muppets, laugh floor, circle of life, reflections of china, toy story midway mania, even Tower of terror and haunted mansion rely heavily on them!

I'll come to Disney's defense on this one. Universal does tend to rely very heavily on screens for many of their E-tickets. FJ, Gringotts, Spider-Man, Transformers. Now, it does work OK on FJ. Not so much on Gringotts. Spider-Man it's great, but just drags on Transformers. Most of the attractions you mentioned at Disney are movies, not actual rides. And though ToT and Haunted Mansion may use them, it's not distractingly obvious.

 

[Voice of Disney sanity]

Convenient to ignore soarin, living seas, mission space, star tours, toy story?

 

[squidward]

Convenient to ignore soarin, living seas, mission space, star tours, toy story?

That's why I said "most".

I think on Toy Story, Star Tours and Soarin', the screens work. Mission:Space just sucks all around, so no reason to discuss that.

By the same token, I think the screens work at Minion Mayhem and Simpsons as well as the aforementioned FJ and Spider-Man. I don't think they work as well at Gringotts and could be vastly improved, and Transformers, whether I want to admit or not, is just a clone of Spider-Man. It's just not as interesting or coherent.

 

[Brad Bishop]

2020s maybe, considering Avatar is likely going to be phased and opening starting in 2017, and Star Wars isn't even likely until 2019 (to start). It would fall better into the next decade. 3/4 of the decade had pretty much nothing (NFL excluded)

Also I doubt Universal really slows down in all that time either. There still is a LOT more coming after Kong and the water park.

The cool thing about Avatarland is that it's going to be 3D. All of it!

Universal has a huge amount of money lined up for their Florida parks across the next decade. I expect these parks to be completely remade and more in the style of Harry Potter (not that everything will be Harry Potter but that it'll all be themed as well as Harry Potter).

I think the article had it right with Disney "phoning it in" with regards to the latest attractions (New Fantasyland). People may scoff at this but I do think that their investment in queue-theming, expanding the hub, and even MagicBands, as much of a boondoggle that has been, are, ultimately, a good thing. Once these things are in place and working reliably they really will add to the overall experience at the parks. It's FAR better to go through the newer queues now than it was when I was a kid and it was just back and forth boring crap.

They really need to step up their game on attractions, though. Something impressive will be good (Avatar may be that).

The rest everyone knows: DHS improvements coming. AK being expanded and getting nighttime entertainment. Epcot still left to rot.

Something I just noticed: Universal is building a parking garage in back. Perhaps they'll expand the parks further.

 

[Progress.City]

Someone here (I forgot who) predicted this would happen about three years ago. At the time, as I recall, this person was collectively ridiculed and laughed at for having such an opinion. Then, again, this person also had some other strange opinions. Still, my point is, we should never pick on someone because their opinions differ from everyone else's. Always respect someone's opinion, regardless of how strange it may sound at the time!

 

[bhg469]

That's why I said "most".

I think on Toy Story, Star Tours and Soarin', the screens work. Mission:Space just sucks all around, so no reason to discuss that.

By the same token, I think the screens work at Minion Mayhem and Simpsons as well as the aforementioned FJ and Spider-Man. I don't think they work as well at Gringotts and could be vastly improved, and Transformers, whether I want to admit or not, is just a clone of Spider-Man. It's just not as interesting or coherent.

Having ridden Gringotts less than 24 hours ago I have to say that the screens on it are 100% needed. There are no elements on that ride where an aa could work and look natural. having said that... The biggest thing that seems to be overlooked is that Gringotts is located in easily the most amazingly themed area I've ever seen. Nothing aside from the collective entire park of dak comes close. Say what you will about new fantasy land but it's a bunch of nice areas grouped together and there is very little cohesion.

If Universal keeps doing what they're doing with the theming around attractions like they've done with springfield, Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley, they're going to earn more repeat visits from me. I'm not a water park person so that is a little disappointing to me but for those that do like them, I hope it's awesome.

 

[midwest_mice]

For the first time in 3 years we didn't renew our wdw annual pass. We decided to take a year off and visit Disneyland this year and don't plan to go back to wdw til at least January. We are loyal dvc members and are hoping for another good deal on the premium annual passes.

 

[JWG]

Good for Universal. I hope they keep driving forward and compete heavily. It's better for all of us.

 

[squidward]

Having ridden Gringotts less than 24 hours ago I have to say that the screens on it are 100% needed. There are no elements on that ride where an aa could work and look natural. having said that... The biggest thing that seems to be overlooked is that Gringotts is located in easily the most amazingly themed area I've ever seen. Nothing aside from the collective entire park of dak comes close. Say what you will about new fantasy land but it's a bunch of nice areas grouped together and there is very little cohesion.

If Universal keeps doing what they're doing with the theming around attractions like they've done with springfield, Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley, they're going to earn more repeat visits from me. I'm not a water park person so that is a little disappointing to me but for those that do like them, I hope it's awesome.

It's not that I think the screens aren't needed. I just think they could be much clearer, as could the sound.

 

[Brad Bishop]

It's not that I think the screens aren't needed. I just think they could be much clearer, as could the sound.

This is a problem with the screens: They look great when they first come out. Over time they get blurry. I noticed this with Harry Potter at IOA back in November. The lens needs to be cleaned and/or focused. It really took me out of the ride and made me a little queasy.

Gringotts looked great. I suspect the same thing will happen there in a few years.

Soarin' has the same problem.

I really wish that they'd do walk throughs on the rides and note these sort of things and keep them up.

One that bugs me is the projected face on Buzz at Space Ranger Spin. It looked amazing years back. The last time I went in there it was really blurry/washed out. The blurriness really does take something that is pretty incredible and makes it immediately crappy. I suspect the same thing will happen to the dwarfs in 7DMT after a year or two.

 

[ChrisFL]

Gringott's was just down for a few days and reports said that the screens look clearer now than before...so maybe they decided to work on them during the downtime

 

[bhg469]

It's not that I think the screens aren't needed. I just think they could be much clearer, as could the sound.

I guess I didn't notice the sound..

 

[danlb_2000]

And of course I predict a Universal Express from the airport to come along soon too. I can see the balance of power shifting for many - instead of a Disney vacation where you figure out a way to get up I4 for a day or two, it's an I-Drive based vacation where you figure out a way to spend a day or two at Disney.

I am surprised that this hasn't happened already.

 

[SJN1279]

How is a park hopper at Universal not worth it, but a park hopper at Disney is for only one day?

Or are you actually crazy enough to pay $100 to visit DHS alone?

I can get a day non-hopper ticket to DHS and experience all the parks attractions. If I get a non-hopper ticket to Universal, I miss out on the park's only true family attraction.