UOR looking very rundown

[UpAllNight]

I checked booking Disney hotels direct with Disney (with the UK free dining) and they were coming out at extortionate prices for me, although a lot of the Disney resorts didn't have much availability. It was a good £500+ more than our trip two years ago for a two week stay.
I've never really looked at staying on I-Drive though, always done Disney.


But Virgin Atlantic has been putting out some cheap deals recently so I think their flights are low at the moment, they even had 3 night stays in New York for £400 flight and hotel! I think I've seen flight only to Orlando for around £400 too.

I’ve only ever flown Virgin...we’re staying on site either Disney or a Universal, but not until 2020. Always found Disney site to be extortionate...better deals with Virgin / tip / Thomas cook

 

[Tom Morrow]

I don't think Universal is too slow to build by any means. If anything, I think they have been moving too fast, and have been tackling too much at once, which may or may not be responsible for the lack of keeping things looking fresh and new in the existing parks.

 

[Rich Brownn]

I don't think Universal is too slow to build by any means. If anything, I think they have been moving too fast, and have been tackling too much at once, which may or may not be responsible for the lack of keeping things looking fresh and new in the existing parks.

Well, the king of announced - to build - to opening has to be Haunted Mansion at Disneyland Imagine if social media existed back then!!

 

[Jon81uk]

I’ve only ever flown Virgin...we’re staying on site either Disney or a Universal, but not until 2020. Always found Disney site to be extortionate...better deals with Virgin / tip / Thomas cook

Last time we went (2016) I priced up hotel with Disney and flight with Virgin Atlantic and compared with booking all-in-one with Virgin Holidays and it was still slightly cheaper with the separate flight and hotel. I think its because we booked so far out (to get free dining) the flight prices were a bit all over the place, whereas Virgin Holidays had a fixed price compared to the cheaper prices direct with Virgin Atlantic.
But yes I've always flown VA and either booked Virgin Holidays or separate VA and Disney.

 

[raven]

18-20 months for something, that has been described as a stunt show. Think of what you are talking about. It took less time than
that to set up the Summer light, water, laser, pyrotechnics show and that included a new seating area. The reality of the situation,
even if some do not want to admit it, there are some things that are going much slower than they should be.

How many years did it take to replace the Adventurer’s Club? Or 20kluts for that matter? Wasn’t the Tron coaster announced over a year ago and they are still in the process of clearing land for it? (While the new HP coaster track and elements are complete only a year after closing an existing coaster on the same plot of land). Let’s talk about who’s really going slow.

 

[OG Runner]

How many years did it take to replace the Adventurer’s Club? Or 20kluts for that matter? Wasn’t the Tron coaster announced over a year ago and they are still in the process of clearing land for it? (While the new HP coaster track and elements are complete only a year after closing an existing coaster on the same plot of land). Let’s talk about who’s really going slow.

Honestly, I get sick and tired of repeating the same thing. It doesn't matter if Disney took 20 years from start to finish for a given
project, it still doesn't mean that Universal is doing something in a timely manner. It would mean Disney was being slow on that project. I also didn't say Disney always does things on time. (The current rehab of the riverboat in Frontier Land is behind schedule.) I did say some projects are taking much longer than I thought they would or should. ( Also if you read my prior comments, you will see I noted the HP coaster is being handled well.)

 

[RustySpork]

Honestly, I get sick and tired of repeating the same thing. It doesn't matter if Disney took 20 years from start to finish for a given
project, it still doesn't mean that Universal is doing something in a timely manner. It would mean Disney was being slow on that project. I also didn't say Disney always does things on time. (The current rehab of the riverboat in Frontier Land is behind schedule.) I did say some projects are taking much longer than I thought they would or should. ( Also if you read my prior comments, you will see I noted the HP coaster is being handled well.)

There have been quite a few examples provided in the thread as evidence that Universal isn't going slow. Using Disney's examples as comparisons seems perfectly fine as a measurement. If you don't have something to measure against, how can you possibly define slow or not slow at all?

 

[JoeCamel]

There have been quite a few examples provided in the thread as evidence that Universal isn't going slow. Using Disney's examples as comparisons seems perfectly fine as a measurement. If you don't have something to measure against, how can you possibly define slow or not slow at all?

Or if you don't know what is being built how can you say it is slow?

 

[OG Runner]

You could have rebuilt the whole building in nearly two years. Yes, you can say that is slow. Also, once again, there were no comparisons being made. A statement of "..but it took Disney this many years to build X", is not a comparison and has no bearing on the how fast or slow something is being done at Universal.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

You could have rebuilt the whole building in nearly two years. Yes, you can say that is slow. Also, once again, there were no comparisons being made. A statement of "..but it took Disney this many years to build X", is not a comparison and has no bearing on the how fast or slow something is being done at Universal.

Often times it is faster to build a new building than to retro fit an older building.

But please continue your illogical whiney rant.

 

[RustySpork]

You could have rebuilt the whole building in nearly two years. Yes, you can say that is slow. Also, once again, there were no comparisons being made. A statement of "..but it took Disney this many years to build X", is not a comparison and has no bearing on the how fast or slow something is being done at Universal.

How do you know? Did you have access to all of the permits, and know how long it took to go from application to approval? Did you have access to the data of how long it took to bid for any outside contracts / vendors? What about approval for budgets? Impact studies?

Sure, you could in theory hire someone to build a building in two years. That doesn't mean the building will be built in two years.

It's easy to point at something and imply that it can be done faster from a distance and without any knowledge of the details.

 

[OG Runner]

How do you know? Did you have access to all of the permits, and know how long it took to go from application to approval? Did you have access to the data of how long it took to bid for any outside contracts / vendors? What about approval for budgets? Impact studies?

Sure, you could in theory hire someone to build a building in two years. That doesn't mean the building will be built in two years.

It's easy to point at something and imply that it can be done faster from a distance and without any knowledge of the details.

Again, to my point of better planning and having those items taken care of, before you close the attraction.

 

[RustySpork]

Again, to my point of better planning and having those items taken care of, before you close the attraction.

You're just speculating, and making assumptions. You're literally spouting nonsense as you have no way to know that it wasn't planned well.

 

[GLaDOS]

Again, to my point of better planning and having those items taken care of, before you close the attraction.

You’re assuming they didn’t have those items taken care of.

The fact is your assuming things you have no idea about, and then calling other people morons when they don’t agree with the conclusions you jump to.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

Here is Universal's statement. They knew what they were building and how long it was going to take when they closed it. As far as I know, they are on schedule.

It is going to have a 19 month turn around. I'm not sure why you believe that is too long. You have absolutely no idea the extent of work they are doing in there. Or the amount of blocking and rehearsing necessary for this new show.

One thing that has been discovered recently is it is not Universal Entertainment staging the new stunts, they are having a professional stunt company out of Hollywood producing the stunts for the show.

Bottom line, you simply think it's taking too long with absolutely no background or information.

 

[Tom Morrow]

So, I made this thread two years ago in hopes that maybe some people might take notice and things would turn around. Unfortunately, especially after taking a very close look at the parks lately, I feel they have only gotten worse.

It's not just kind of bad now. It's really. REALLY. bad. The parks look fine, at a glance. But look at almost ANY surface. Literally almost any surface, and it will be one or more of the following:

- cracked
- covered in dirt or grime
- scuffed
- faded
- rusty
- chipped

This literally applies to almost anywhere you look. IOA is especially bad. The amount of surfaces or fixtures I see that obviously haven't been touched in decades is reaching an appalling amount, I'm not kidding or exaggerating when I say this: these parks are legitimately worn and run down. In no way do they appear, outside of Potter of course, to be the premium quality price tag they are charging. The one silver lining is that UOR typically keeps the attraction effects themselves up to snub. But the parks themselves? Several notches lower than WDW and SeaWorld for upkeep, cleanliness, and polish.

I'm continuing to complain because I want people to take notice and fix it. Now is the time to do it, after all, with significantly reduced operating hours.

 

[JoeCamel]

So, I made this thread two years ago in hopes that maybe some people might take notice and things would turn around. Unfortunately, especially after taking a very close look at the parks lately, I feel they have only gotten worse.

It's not just kind of bad now. It's really. REALLY. bad. The parks look fine, at a glance. But look at almost ANY surface. Literally almost any surface, and it will be one or more of the following:

- cracked
- covered in dirt or grime
- scuffed
- faded
- rusty
- chipped

This literally applies to almost anywhere you look. IOA is especially bad. The amount of surfaces or fixtures I see that obviously haven't been touched in decades is reaching an appalling amount, I'm not kidding or exaggerating when I say this: these parks are legitimately worn and run down. In no way do they appear, outside of Potter of course, to be the premium quality price tag they are charging. The one silver lining is that UOR typically keeps the attraction effects themselves up to snub. But the parks themselves? Several notches lower than WDW and SeaWorld for upkeep, cleanliness, and polish.

I'm continuing to complain because I want people to take notice and fix it. Now is the time to do it, after all, with significantly reduced operating hours.

Did you stop by Guest Services on your last visit? Probably be more effective there than here.

 

[JT3000]

I know from past experience that Universal has monitored certain online spaces pretty closely for feedback and such, but I seriously doubt this is one of them. Complaining about Universal on a Disney site with the expectation that something will actually change is like calling AT&T because your Verizon service is down.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

First off, Universal's social media team does monitor this site. But this particular issue at this time is moot. They are aware, as they laid off the touch up over night crew. And I expect it to get worse until Feb. or so.

Also, as far as the Universal Creative themed painting crew. Most are in Beijing...or laid off.

 

[Tom Morrow]

I didn't stop at guest services because I know that basically amounts to "oh I'm so sorry about that." The alternative is to expose this stuff in a place many people look, which could cause more people to notice.

First off, Universal's social media team does monitor this site. But this particular issue at this time is moot. They are aware, as they laid off the touch up over night crew. And I expect it to get worse until Feb. or so.

Also, as far as the Universal Creative themed painting crew. Most are in Beijing...or laid off.

Yeah, I don't expect any of this to be addressed any time soon, but things were already looking shabby pre-covid. This stuff isn't from a few months of neglect but rather years, and in some cases, decades.