- Apr 4, 2020
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Universal’s creative staff have been grumbling at industry events recently that their mega-theme park project in Orlando, Epic Universe, is getting less and less epic by the day. What the project was promised to be, and what it is shaping up to be, may not live up to the grandiose name.
Written by “MiceChat Staff”Curious to get all of your thoughts on this.
Curious to get all of your thoughts on this.
Curious to get all of your thoughts on this.
Curious to get all of your thoughts on this.
Sure, I’ve heard complaints years ago that the final plan for Epic wasn’t as grand as what they were originally envisioning. (Which had a hotel at the back of every land, massive gardens in the center connected by boat, an even bigger show fountain, indoor lands, extravagant multi level gardens with dining and entertainment, a Lord of the Rings land, a Broadway style theater with outside guest access, etc etc…)
But that all wasn’t approved.
Everything we’ve seen in site plans. Everything they are actually building IS approved. The only changes we’ve seen from officially released concept art to now was a single burger quick service cut and a show replaced with a roller coaster.
Any complaints about Epic Universe being changed or cuts… Is likely not about what we’ve spent the last few years talking about. If there’s anything to it at all, it’s about blue sky level concepts that were never approved in the first place.
Because the Epic that was announced in 2019, is still being built before our eyes.
It’s fun to think of exquisite gardens and pretty stuff to look at, but at the end of the day rides sell. Rides matter more.I mean the original idea for sure was next level epic but at the same time thinking about that's a lot of money with staffing and ROI likely not coming even close to what they wanted to spend but what we are getting is still good.
The original plans sounded like the most amazing park in the history of the world but even then though it would be a park that would be doomed to fail because the expectations and work would be too high.
It’s fun to think of exquisite gardens and pretty stuff to look at, but at the end of the day rides sell. Rides matter more.
That said, the compromises made to the hub from some of the early, more extravagant plans, make for an easier to navigate and more useful hub in my opinion.
Thoughts....Disney shills will crap on Epic Universe for a decade like they did IOACurious to get all of your thoughts on this.
Yes, sometimes creative's intention and park ops clash a bit.Bingo. Something that I'm reminded of is when AK first opened, they wanted folks to take their time in the Oasis and explore it, not rush through to get to the rides. What did people do? Rush through to get to the rides, as they do.
While it would've been nice to have the hub like the early plans, what they're getting is still gonna' be nice, and the ease in navigation will be important since this isn't your usual hub and spoke design.
Doesn't the current hub still have those gardens? Barring the Monsters coaster and the Meteor Grill, it's the same plan most of the forum has been on board with since 2019. If the disappointment is stemming from not being able to realize the extravagant early concepts with underground waterways and Norse mythology, then that's absurd.That said, the compromises made to the hub from some of the early, more extravagant plans, make for an easier to navigate and more useful hub in my opinion.
That is because every project starts with creative team or design team and then engineers and all the other teams review and say "Umm... what the heck were you trying to do here? Do you know this this and this problems that could occur?"Every project starts with pie in the sky and ends up with "what's practical"
Pie in the sky gets you things like "Let's build a park about nature, but we're not going to issue maps because we want people to just explore!", or "Let's build a huge animatronic, but there's no way to fix it without tearing the building around it down"-- great in theory but in the real world they just don't deliver.
Yea I’m talking about ideas that were never approved, like the underground waterways and multi level gardens. What we’re getting is ridiculously less expensive and multiple times more useful for wayfinding through a large theme park.Doesn't the current hub still have those gardens? Barring the Monsters coaster and the Meteor Grill, it's the same plan most of the forum has been on board with since 2019. If the disappointment is stemming from not being able to realize the extravagant early concepts with underground waterways and Norse mythology, then that's absurd.
Another fantastic TPS that gives a pretty comprehensive video of the Monsters land
Another fantastic TPS that gives a pretty comprehensive video of the Monsters land