State of USH - What's Next?

[saint.piss]

At this point I don't care what IP it is. HP, Dark Universe, Wicked, whatever. I would prefer DU but all I'm saying is that HP is the safe choice and using Wicked as a counterpoint is a weak argument. Yeah the film was a huge success but there's also a lot of recency bias with that IP. HP has been a long standing successful IP at the parks and they're about to reboot the series with a TV show. It's the safe choice and is the likely one they'll make if I had to bet on it. They could bring over that Circus show too from Epic if they want. But like I said... I don't care what IP it is. I'm excited for a huge expansion to come to this park if it happens.

 

[TheUniC6]

At this point I don't care what IP it is. HP, Dark Universe, Wicked, whatever. I would prefer DU but all I'm saying is that HP is the safe choice and using Wicked as a counterpoint is a weak argument. Yeah the film was a huge success but there's also a lot of recency bias with that IP. HP has been a long standing successful IP at the parks and they're about to reboot the series with a TV show. It's the safe choice and is the likely one they'll make if I had to bet on it. They could bring over that Circus show too from Epic if they want. But like I said... I don't care what IP it is. I'm excited for a huge expansion to come to this park if it happens.

As others have stated before, based on logistical challenges of building out into falls lake, a better bet would be to address the lower lot by taking out SS 16-24 and Mummy and putting that expansion there. The lower lot has a lot of congestion problems, and that would solve it to a degree.

 

[Wesker69]

I'm still bitter over the fact Nintendo sits upon the sacred land that was SS28 - The Phantom Stage

 

[Viator]

While I'd love Bourne... it requires extensive permanent show aspects. Also.... SCREENZ. USH is already plagued by too much of that, no matter how good Bourne is (or how badly we miss T23D)

- Untrainable Dragon
- Singapore's former Monster Rock (Beetlejuice 2.0)
- Sing Live
- Highlights of Wicked (or other Universal acquired musicals ......EXCEPT CATS!)

I personally wouldn't mind Bourne. It's a technical spectacle that showcases the art of Action Horizons and the digital LED technology intermixing with physical media really well (even if it does seemingly kind of drag). Untrainable would be a great choice too, though I wonder if that might be too big for The Simpsons ride. Might need to check on that.

 

[Pacific]

How about a new show?

 

[DrStarlander]

I was at USH for the first time in decades this winter and one area that seemed odd to me was the French Street and Mel's Diner. I know they've been there forever but sandwiched between Despicable Me and Fast & Furious... with no attractions, are their days numbered? Is it controversial to ask (because I never see them brought up)?

 

[Wesker69]

Parisian Courtyard/French St are definitely on the chopping block, but i believe Simpsons/Springfield will take priority due to needing it replaced ASAP since the contract ends 2028 (plus it is now a Disney owned IP)

But yes, that remaining area is awkward (besides Mel's doesn't hold nostalgia due to the real thing a few miles away in Hollywood). Always said Mel's should just become Cafe 80s from BTTF if it stayed

 

[Jake S]

are their days numbered?

French Street’s days definitely seem numbered. Truthfully that’s a bigger loss for Horror Nights than it is for the daytime park.

 

[viking_wizard_eyes]

After the show building gets knocked down and they reenforce the earth underneath, do they have the ability to essentially expand backwards? Because if not, I’m not really sure you can significantly increase the footprint without knocking down a fair bit of the surrounding structure/buildings, and I wonder how willing they are to do that? And I’m not talking about the carnival games, I’m talking the restaurants, and the Tram escalators, etc.

Basically what I’m wondering is will The Simpsons’ replacement have to be sort of a 1:1 replacement of some kind, or do we think the entire area is being dramatically reshaped? At that point, I feel like you can start thinking bigger than just shows and stuff like that.

 

[Viator]

After the show building gets knocked down and they reenforce the earth underneath, do they have the ability to essentially expand backwards? Because if not, I’m not really sure you can significantly increase the footprint without knocking down a fair bit of the surrounding structure/buildings, and I wonder how willing they are to do that? And I’m not talking about the carnival games, I’m talking the restaurants, and the Tram escalators, etc.

Basically what I’m wondering is will The Simpsons’ replacement have to be sort of a 1:1 replacement of some kind, or do we think the entire area is being dramatically reshaped? At that point, I feel like you can start thinking bigger than just shows and stuff like that.

Hypothetically with The Simpsons Ride--once they knock down the showbuilding and finish the process of relocating ADA drop off/pick up for the time that may be, the question of what replaces it lies with what UC wants to do in that area.

It could become a new simulator experience, a show, or a dark ride; it's nearly 2x the size of the plot of land that is that of Secret Life of Pets: Off The Leash. I don't imagine Duff Gardens/Luigis will be affected whatsoever in the terms of the buildings there; it would've been taken cared of with Hollywood Drift if that was the case.

At the end of the day, what becomes of Springfield will be as a result of what direction do they think makes sense with the area at large; especially with how it acts as the main area that connects the Upper Lot and Lower Lot. Hence why I don't think they will want a magnet.

 

[highdefrex]

I'm thinking they should put the Studio Tour where Simpsons is and the trams we board just go hurtling down the hillside into the backlot.

 

[Rideguy70]

French Street’s days definitely seem numbered. Truthfully that’s a bigger loss for Horror Nights than it is for the daytime park.

But doesn't French Street hold the VIP tour dining, as well as a lot of storage? Not sure where VIP dining would relocate to... and it's a pretty big perk of the VIP tour, so they can't really do without it.

 

[Pacific]

Kind of hope French Street doesn't go anywhere. It brings some nice atmosphere to the upper lot.

 

[Viator]

Kind of hope French Street doesn't go anywhere. It brings some nice atmosphere the upper lot.

Echoing Pacific here--I think it's too much of an oddball to where you can't really do...anything with it. Couple in that it has a good use as a HHN venue (though they could always change that), and it has it's purposes.

I would also agree if they were to remove the Mels branding as @Wesker69 talked about it--Cafe 80's would be the most obvious choice.

 

[Viator]

I'm thinking they should put the Studio Tour where Simpsons is and the trams we board just go hurtling down the hillside into the backlot.

Decided to humor this and...you know what--this isn't that bad of an idea. I kind of wish @UniversalRBLX could do a visual mockup of how that could work, kind of like what he's done with other bits. I can see something figured out.

 

[DarkMetroid567]

Yeah I always assumed that it Mr. Toad’d itself from doom. I think this conversation has been had before on this forum but there really just isn’t that much space.

 

[TheUniC6]

Hypothetically with The Simpsons Ride--once they knock down the showbuilding and finish the process of relocating ADA drop off/pick up for the time that may be, the question of what replaces it lies with what UC wants to do in that area.

It could become a new simulator experience, a show, or a dark ride; it's nearly 2x the size of the plot of land that is that of Secret Life of Pets: Off The Leash.

If they go with the dark ride route (I hope they do) I could maybe see them porting over whatever ride system Pokemon is going to use when it comes to USF, albeit with a different theme attached to it, or maybe something more like Midway Mania.

The wildcard here is if the the studio tour load area moves elsewhere, as that could change the game for the scale of the dark ride. After playing around with Google Earth, if you include the current Simpsons showbuilding and expand out into the tram load area, you are in the 100K square feet ball park. That's about the size of a Runaway Railway. If Universal is willing to try again with trackless tech, this is the direction they should go in, as a high capacity, no heights family dark ride on par with MMRR would do wonders for rounding out USH.

 

[themeparkshark]

regardless of what ip we get and where it goes I’m just happy we are on this topic and discussing more things for this park beyond hollywood drift.

with that said, i wouldn’t mind anything that comes to this park to continue the trend that drift is setting by continuing to bring attractions that are unique to ush.

 

[Viator]

View attachment 25407

Decided to humor this and...you know what--this isn't that bad of an idea. I kind of wish @UniversalRBLX could do a visual mockup of how that could work, kind of like what he's done with other bits. I can see something figured out.

Post in thread 'Let's play being head of Universal Creative...'

Mar 12, 2025

Taking a page off of what I thought about over on the State of USH I deposit what I would do if I..laterally moved Studio Tour to be in the basement of The Simpsons Ride.

Let's assume first and foremost as part of this--the building as it stands could be removed. That is taken into account and I tried to color code this as best as I could. The result in turn, leads to this:





Upper Level (First Image)

• Magenta (ADA Ramp to Upper/Lower Level, leads directly to both the ADA Drop Off and Pickup & the Studio Tour Entrance. Replaces the elevator...

• Viator

• 

Toyed around with this more--and the more I thought about the more it kind of...clicks. It'd be a weird way of handling it, and it'd likely have it's own set of issues but I could actually see how it might work.

regardless of what ip we get and where it goes I’m just happy we are on this topic and discussing more things for this park beyond hollywood drift.

with that said, i wouldn’t mind anything that comes to this park to continue the trend that drift is setting by continuing to bring attractions that are unique to ush.

I think at the end of the day, I'm just happy that USH is finally moving forward somewhat on longer term plans.

I kind of fear that they shot themselves in the foot, idling where they were post SNW as it feels like there should be more on the plate for the immediate horizon of USH. Especially as I wager UOR should be gearing up to be progressive and moving forward with plans more actively in the process.

Hoping they have some really fun stuff planned for LA2028; would be nice to see them go at it against DLR considering they should have Coco up around the games (Either before or after).

 

[Pacific]

Yeah like, building into Falls Lake and Supercharged could most definitely work, but it'd be a long process to take advantage of those roughly 22 arces. I do feel like this is the key for "easier" expansion. This most certainly wouldn't be done anytime soon, so wouldn't be surprised if the big LA 2028 addition would be whatever lays in Simpson's plot.

Though, like said earlier, Simpson's can't be too much of a magnet because of its location. It's quite a bit of space, but can you take advantage of it? A show venue is probably the best option, but is that a waste of space?

Then like I've said previously, Transformers is in hot water(?) sitting right next door to the incredibly landlocked SNW ( even then it's tricky because it's outside the land). Nintendo can't move inward because duh, so all it can do is eat up what's right next to it. Though, if Transformers does scucumb to Nintendo, it's not gonna be going anywhere until the 2030s.

Then Mummy...I honestly don't think it's going anywhere anytime soon at this point. You don't want only Hollywood Drift, as there would be no in-between coaster for families and people afraid of a "Six Flags" coaster. And even then, what do you even do with it right now? Is Jurassic World expansion? Nintendo? A completely new IP?

And if Studio Tour is getting moved to Lower Lot, where TF is it going? Lol

Man, this park is tricky. It's like playing Tetris.