The upcoming opening of Epic Universe has renewed my interest in armchair Imagineering and I was thinking that Universal Studios could be my first project, especially since out of the three parks in Orlando, Studios is definitely the one that needs the most help. In its current state, the park is... kind of a mess. A fun mess, but a mess nonetheless. I am still in the brainstorming process of my own overhaul of the park, but I would be interested in hearing any ideas you might have. You could also even suggest solutions for the different problems that I am trying to address with my own overhaul...
Production Central/Minion Land on Illumination Avenue - Realistically, the Minions aren't going anywhere and even before the Minions took over this area wasn't the strongest 'introduction' to the park. But if this area was to get a blue-sky overhaul, I was thinking maybe it could become 'Animation Central'. Maybe with a version of the Animation Celebration attraction from Universal Studios Japan, a returning version of The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera, DreamWorks Theatre, and an Illumination Theatre with "Sing on Tour"? Basically, turn this into a land dedicated to animation as a whole, not just Illumination? I'm open to suggestions.
New York - Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon definitely has to go, though replaced by what attraction? New York also definitely needs an overhaul to have the attractions more consistent with the themes. While Transformers is a fun ride, it's a screen-based attraction in a park with too many of them. I was thinking maybe it could be replaced by the Secret Life of Pets dark ride, which would fit the New York theming better and maybe serve as a nice transition between Animation Central and New York. Revenge of the Mummy stays, although maybe there are changes to the exterior and the story to set in better in New York. I'm also not sure what to do with the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit, especially since I heard that Universal is planning on replacing it. What do you think? What should replace Race Through New York and the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit?
San Francisco - Supercharged is definitely gone, although I am a bit mixed on what to do with this land. Do I add a new attraction themed to San Francisco (maybe a Godzilla ride) or do I turn the land into a new Amity Village with a new Jaws attraction? I am especially divided because...
Diagon Alley - I'm not a huge Harry Potter fan. I'm especially not a fan of JK Rowling. Buuut... I can't deny that Diagon Alley is fantastic. That there is so much effort put into it and that stepping into it for the first time was an incredible experience. And Diagon Alley is undeniably popular. Realistically, I can't get rid of it. Although if I could, I would restore Amity Village and Jaws, but I don't think I could justify getting rid of Diagon Alley for that. What do you think?
World Expo - I am keeping Men in Black: Alien Attack. But it is definitely isolated from the rest of the park. And something needs to be done about the former Fear Factor Theatre. I had two solutions. One is to retheme Alien Attack and its surrounding area to a 1950s/1960s b-movie science fiction town (which would require some changes to be made to Alien Attack, maybe connecting it to the third movie instead of the first one). The other is to restore the Springfield area back to its original theming in order to tie in into the World Expo's World's Fair theming, which brings me to...
Springfield - It feels inevitable that Springfield will eventually be re-themed. Ideally, I would want Back to the Future to be brought back. But how? Should the original World's Fair theming be restored? Or should the area turn into a recreation of Hill Valley that includes some new attractions, including a rollercoaster? And should it be 1950s Hill Valley or 1980s Hill Valley? The former could actually work as a nice transition between a Golden Age Hollywood (30s/40s) and a 1960s American town.
DreamWorks Land - Yeah, I'm not sure what to do with this area. At the very least, if I'm keeping the DreamWorks theming, it could use some flat rides for kids. If I'm getting rid of the DreamWorks theming, I did like Earlie the Pearlie's idea from their buildout of creating a Steven Spielberg mini-land that includes E.T. Adventure. Maybe Lights! Camera! Action! Hosted by Steven Spielberg could be brought here or some other show about or hosted by Steven Spielberg? Since Universal Studios has moved away from being a park about the making of movies to being a more IP-focused park, I feel like maybe there should be at least one area that still maintains the 'about the making of movies' idea. Although DreamWorks Land still does fill a niche for little kids... I could definitely use some suggestions for this. Maybe this could be turned into a Minions-themed area with some flat rides for kids?
Hollywood - One idea I've seen on this forum a few times that I really like is Universal having its own version of the Great Movie Ride, so that would definitely be included in my overhaul of the park. Besides that, I think Hollywood is the land that needs the least 'fixing'.
This is what I'm thinking right now, but I would definitely appreciate some of your ideas and suggestions while I'm still brainstorming. How would you overhaul this mess of a park?
Production Central/Minion Land on Illumination Avenue - Realistically, the Minions aren't going anywhere and even before the Minions took over this area wasn't the strongest 'introduction' to the park. But if this area was to get a blue-sky overhaul, I was thinking maybe it could become 'Animation Central'. Maybe with a version of the Animation Celebration attraction from Universal Studios Japan, a returning version of The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera, DreamWorks Theatre, and an Illumination Theatre with "Sing on Tour"? Basically, turn this into a land dedicated to animation as a whole, not just Illumination? I'm open to suggestions.
New York - Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon definitely has to go, though replaced by what attraction? New York also definitely needs an overhaul to have the attractions more consistent with the themes. While Transformers is a fun ride, it's a screen-based attraction in a park with too many of them. I was thinking maybe it could be replaced by the Secret Life of Pets dark ride, which would fit the New York theming better and maybe serve as a nice transition between Animation Central and New York. Revenge of the Mummy stays, although maybe there are changes to the exterior and the story to set in better in New York. I'm also not sure what to do with the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit, especially since I heard that Universal is planning on replacing it. What do you think? What should replace Race Through New York and the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit?
San Francisco - Supercharged is definitely gone, although I am a bit mixed on what to do with this land. Do I add a new attraction themed to San Francisco (maybe a Godzilla ride) or do I turn the land into a new Amity Village with a new Jaws attraction? I am especially divided because...
Diagon Alley - I'm not a huge Harry Potter fan. I'm especially not a fan of JK Rowling. Buuut... I can't deny that Diagon Alley is fantastic. That there is so much effort put into it and that stepping into it for the first time was an incredible experience. And Diagon Alley is undeniably popular. Realistically, I can't get rid of it. Although if I could, I would restore Amity Village and Jaws, but I don't think I could justify getting rid of Diagon Alley for that. What do you think?
World Expo - I am keeping Men in Black: Alien Attack. But it is definitely isolated from the rest of the park. And something needs to be done about the former Fear Factor Theatre. I had two solutions. One is to retheme Alien Attack and its surrounding area to a 1950s/1960s b-movie science fiction town (which would require some changes to be made to Alien Attack, maybe connecting it to the third movie instead of the first one). The other is to restore the Springfield area back to its original theming in order to tie in into the World Expo's World's Fair theming, which brings me to...
Springfield - It feels inevitable that Springfield will eventually be re-themed. Ideally, I would want Back to the Future to be brought back. But how? Should the original World's Fair theming be restored? Or should the area turn into a recreation of Hill Valley that includes some new attractions, including a rollercoaster? And should it be 1950s Hill Valley or 1980s Hill Valley? The former could actually work as a nice transition between a Golden Age Hollywood (30s/40s) and a 1960s American town.
DreamWorks Land - Yeah, I'm not sure what to do with this area. At the very least, if I'm keeping the DreamWorks theming, it could use some flat rides for kids. If I'm getting rid of the DreamWorks theming, I did like Earlie the Pearlie's idea from their buildout of creating a Steven Spielberg mini-land that includes E.T. Adventure. Maybe Lights! Camera! Action! Hosted by Steven Spielberg could be brought here or some other show about or hosted by Steven Spielberg? Since Universal Studios has moved away from being a park about the making of movies to being a more IP-focused park, I feel like maybe there should be at least one area that still maintains the 'about the making of movies' idea. Although DreamWorks Land still does fill a niche for little kids... I could definitely use some suggestions for this. Maybe this could be turned into a Minions-themed area with some flat rides for kids?
Hollywood - One idea I've seen on this forum a few times that I really like is Universal having its own version of the Great Movie Ride, so that would definitely be included in my overhaul of the park. Besides that, I think Hollywood is the land that needs the least 'fixing'.
This is what I'm thinking right now, but I would definitely appreciate some of your ideas and suggestions while I'm still brainstorming. How would you overhaul this mess of a park?
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