Universal's Epic Universe Wish List & Speculation

[Mad Dog]

what has been crazy to me is that, back when there were three hotels, it was far easier to find a room -- once CBBR opened, it seemed to get more difficult to find a room anywhere on property (or took more planning in advance)

Definitely. Before CBBR I used to be able to get a real good price on Portofino two or three weeks before I left for my Fall vacation. As the raven screamed...Nevermore. Nevermore.....The secret's finally out. You can't beat
the experience of staying at an on site Universal hotel........And Epic will result in more hotels being built. Great strategy by Comcast. Build more hotels, rooms at a reasonable cost especially, and the theme park guests will
arrive in droves. Universal kind of borrowed Disney's profit strategy, but improved upon it. Hotels close to the parks, most within walking distance....and much much better prices than Disney.

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

Definitely. Before CBBR I used to be able to get a real good price on Portofino two or three weeks before I left for my Fall vacation. As the raven screamed...Nevermore. Nevermore.....The secret's finally out. You can't beat
the experience of staying at an on site Universal hotel........And Epic will result in more hotels being built. Great strategy by Comcast. Build more hotels, rooms at a reasonable cost especially, and the theme park guests will
arrive in droves. Universal kind of borrowed Disney's profit strategy, but improved upon it. Hotels close to the parks, most within walking distance....and much much better prices than Disney.

I’ve never heard a bad review of a Universal on-site experience from anyone I’ve met.

I want a room at this hotel in the park, I feel they’re gonna try to make it their nicest one yet!

 

[natespf]

I am not sure how many times and in how many ways this needs to be said, it's not just about cramming in the most popular IPs but it needs to be a good theme park experience that resonates well for even non-fans. Putting some familiar faces on billboards stirs up buzz, but the fun-factor gets the positive reviews/word-of-mouth and repeat visitors. If they just took a snapshot of what was most popular in 2020 it would all start to feel stale quicker. Mixing it up with diverse experiences locks in the freshness.

I see them trying to reverse the spoiler effect (in favor of EU) with a little bit in USF along the recent projects in IoA so that people who haven't been in a while will still need to visit all 3 parks. Then a couple big projects in USF and IoA after EU opens to get them up to snuff before going back to a rotation of keeping the parks fresh.

EU is definitely needed to turn it into an actual resort destination to fill up more hotel rooms with longer stays and spreading out the crowds.

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

To add onto to the point above..... why are people complaining about more theme parks?

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

To add onto to the point above..... why are people complaining about more theme parks?

Look at what’s happened to Epcot. The more parks you have to add things to the bigger the bread over which you have to scrape butter.

 

[GAcoaster]

Look at what’s happened to Epcot. The more parks you have to add things to the bigger the bread over which you have to scrape butter.

True, but the moral of the story is don't build a half-assed park (or two) and then have to spend so much fixing them that there's no budget leftover to maintain your existing parks. Currently Universal's two (or three) existing parks are in decent shape from continued investment, so as long as they commit to the full build-out of EU, things should be OK. Now if they cut things (like Disney did with DAK) or build a half day park (like Disney did with DHS) then the existing parks will suffer. I really don't see that happening.

Also, Universal is much smarter when it comes to budgeting projects than Disney. Disney spent more to clone Little Mermaid for Magic Kingdom than Universal spent on the original Wizarding World (Hogsmeade Village, and the attractions).

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

Look at what’s happened to Epcot. The more parks you have to add things to the bigger the bread over which you have to scrape butter.

True, but I don’t think any Universal park is there yet, as they aren’t designed to be Epcot. USF needs work, clearly, but it will happen after the 3rd park. They’re set up in a much better position with their current parks to accomplish this. I agree 4 parks is probably more than enough which is why I Hope Universal doesn’t build a 4th one day.

 

[jseal777]

Never half ass two things. Whole ass one thing.

But I don't think Uni has anything to worry about. Studios will get some love in the near future I am sure and Epic will be wonderful as well.

 

[GAcoaster]

Universal has the current advantage of being in a pro-active position rather than a re-active position.

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

Universal has the current advantage of being in a pro-active position rather than a re-active position.

This is the big key. They’re being aggressive on purpose, not because they need to be.

 

[Mad Dog]

True, but the moral of the story is don't build a half-assed park (or two) and then have to spend so much fixing them that there's no budget leftover to maintain your existing parks. Currently Universal's two (or three) existing parks are in decent shape from continued investment, so as long as they commit to the full build-out of EU, things should be OK. Now if they cut things (like Disney did with DAK) or build a half day park (like Disney did with DHS) then the existing parks will suffer. I really don't see that happening.

Also, Universal is much smarter when it comes to budgeting projects than Disney. Disney spent more to clone Little Mermaid for Magic Kingdom than Universal spent on the original Wizarding World (Hogsmeade Village, and the attractions).

One big difference is that Universal actually opened a lot of new attractions in USF. They weren't being absent from the park like WDW. The only issue that popped up is that they made a few mistakes
on balancing attractions and one big mistake on a D/E ticket. They were being proactive. Heck, walk in USF today, if you hadn't been there since 2003, and you'd barely recognize the park.

 

[Legacy]

One big difference is that Universal actually opened a lot of new attractions in USF. They weren't being absent from the park like WDW. The only issue that popped up is that they made a few mistakes
on balancing attractions and one big mistake on a D/E ticket. They were being proactive. Heck, walk in USF today, if you hadn't been there since 2003, and you'd barely recognize the park.

I haven’t been since 2011 and barely recognize it.

Since the last time I’ve been there.

- Transformers
- Expanded Springfield
- Despicable Me
- Fallon
- Diagon
- Bourne
- Superstar Parade
- Fountain show
- F&F

Which is INSANE.

Compare that to Epcot (at the moment), which I haven’t been to since 2011 as well.

- Frozen
- New Soarin
- Rio del Tempo update
- New films for Canada and France

Basically… updates but nothing entirely NEW.

Apples and oranges comparison.

 

[belloq87]

What's preferable? A place that is full of new stuff I don't care for, or a place that is stagnating in the middle of a complete identity crisis?

Your personal mileage varies, but I'm not happy with either.

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

I haven’t been since 2011 and barely recognize it.

Since the last time I’ve been there.

- Transformers
- Expanded Springfield
- Despicable Me
- Fallon
- Diagon
- Bourne
- Superstar Parade
- Fountain show
- F&F

Which is INSANE.

Compare that to Epcot (at the moment), which I haven’t been to since 2011 as well.

- Frozen
- New Soarin
- Rio del Tempo update
- New films for Canada and France

Basically… updates but nothing entirely NEW.

Apples and oranges comparison.

Just to give you personally an idea of my UOR experience, I started going as soon as you stopped lol. I’ve only experienced this stuff and the changes so I can’t imagine the park without most of it.

Again though, alllll of those have screens and offer little variety. If F&F could’ve been a coaster..... damn. That list looks different. Can’t debate the park hasn’t been invested in its just we don’t like the investments lol.

 

[Tobias]

Universal has the current advantage of being in a pro-active position rather than a re-active position.

Pretty much, it was quite the experience returning to the resort in 2018 when the last time I went was 2006. They've been really aggressive on additions and expansions, so they're in a real good spot to add EU. It's definitely not like Disney where the non-MK parks still need a lot more to them. I'll also say that experiencing both Uni and WDW during the pandemic, it really showed what parks are still severely lacking when there's no shows. DHS is kinda' getting back on track but still not there, and AK still needs more in general. I didn't have those issues with USF or IOA, so they're sitting pretty nicely all things considered.

 

[Palutena]

Much like the animal kingdom comparison before it, I just think references to what Disney has done don't really fit since Universal has pretty much always done things to a different scale, scope and focus than Disney has and are also definitely in a different phase of growth/maintenance. But yea, It's not necessarily like Universal has left much to fallow so far, except I suppose their live shows, more so a good few aren't happy with what they've added/replaced.

(Also I wouldn't really say Disney's problem is they have too much bread for which they have little butter to scrape over, more like they cant decide if they want to scrape butter, jam, or mashed fruit over their bread, and then went out and bought cream cheese and nutella too, finally just deciding to smear random small bits of everything around the place as they see fit)

 

[tielo]

A theme park should always be a work in progress. It will never be 100% "there" and that is a good thing. I love most changes Universal has made and looking at the growth of guests that is a good strategy.
I wish Universal would change Christmas a bit up as it is getting predictable (but keep Grinch please) unlike Halloween that invents itself each year, and I hope the Mardi Grass version this year will get some cross over to next year as I heard a lot of positives about the food and different locations of the floats throughout the park. We could have that during the day and the parade at night.

 

[shiekra38]

A theme park should always be a work in progress. It will never be 100% "there" and that is a good thing. I love most changes Universal has made and looking at the growth of guests that is a good strategy.
I wish Universal would change Christmas a bit up as it is getting predictable (but keep Grinch please) unlike Halloween that invents itself each year, and I hope the Mardi Grass version this year will get some cross over to next year as I heard a lot of positives about the food and different locations of the floats throughout the park. We could have that during the day and the parade at night.

Not sure if there is an event thread or not, but, I agree with you

2020 Christmas and Mardi Gras was such a fresh change

I'm not sure the budget breakdown, but I'd love a yearly walkthrough that changes like the haunted houses do.

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

Not sure if there is an event thread or not, but, I agree with you

2020 Christmas and Mardi Gras was such a fresh change

I'm not sure the budget breakdown, but I'd love a yearly walkthrough that changes like the haunted houses do.

Luckily, cause of the AR, I suspect Mario Kart gets holiday overlays. So this park could easily do some event type things with their attractions and lands. None are really that concrete in time or theming that they can’t handle holiday overlays. Maybe Monsters would look the strangest but I could see decorations still.

 

[shiekra38]

Luckily, cause of the AR, I suspect Mario Kart gets holiday overlays. So this park could easily do some event type things with their attractions and lands. None are really that concrete in time or theming that they can’t handle holiday overlays. Maybe Monsters would look the strangest but I could see decorations still.

A Christmas overlay of Super Nintendo world with different music and a snowy MK would be magical