Celestial Park - General Discussion Thread

[Mike S]

Who cares? It’s not like anyone said you specifically made a mistake (in which case, sure I could see how you’d react that way). They said there’s room for improvement in a project created by a third party. I think even the guys who designed the place themselves would be open to hearing thoughts and feedback from the guests they created it for.

The part that jumped at me with the AI art was the look of the steps with the lanterns and small fountains next to them. I’m not exactly screaming for the impossible parts of that art here lol. Even the third one looks very doable to a degree.

 

[GA-MBIT]

They planted literally 100s of mature trees and everyone is acting like they slapped a few sheets of AstroTurf down and called it a day.
I get that people are only seeing the wide walkways right now but from a build potential point of view the park is less than half built, and when they start adding more rides and lands ergo increasing capacity people so it starts to resemble MK for average numbers nobody is going to be complaining they need make the walkways more narrow.
The hub was built for the park that exists in 2050 not just today

I appreciate the forward-thinking on the part of UDX, but we're no longer in previews and the current experience costs a lot of money. It's just not at the level of other parks and won't be for a number of years. I have no doubt that Epic will be great in a decade or two. What do we do in the meantime? Ignore the obvious cost-cuts and gaps in Epic's lineup?

I think more attractions is always good, but I've always been confused by people saying there isn't enough to do.

There are 13 attractions in Epic Universe with the rides and shows.
There are 13 attractions in IOA.

It could be argued that IOA has more "major" attractions, but it's also been open for 26 years lol

Just my opinion......but I'm guessing that most of the negative feelings about Epic, and Epic's five lands, are more colored by super long waits and the poor downtime performance thus far of the under capacity rides than anything else. If the stand by lines, and daily ride performance were more 'acceptable', most everyone would probably be praising Celestial, and the other Epic lands. .....In the future, Universal marketing will probably have to spend a lot on marketing to get back the guests that had such terrible experiences on high downtime days that they had the unfortunate 'lottery experience' to pay a high ticket price for.

I think these both speak to the same point. The problem isn't the amount of rides, but the capacity. Until Epic adds a couple big attractions like Luigi's Mansion, Potter, whatever the new portal adds; there just aren't enough rides to soak up even the current non-AP guests that the park is seeing now.

A healthy park would have rides like Yoshi, Carousel, Fyre Drill peak at 25min. Werewolf hover around 30min. Mario Kart and Hiccups around a 45-50min. Ministry and Mine Cart getting Slinky, Hagrids, SDMT-esque waits. But they don't, because almost every ride is built with unreliable ride systems that can't handle the amount of guests they get. Every ride ranges from 40-70 minute waits, including Yoshi, Fyre Drill, and Werewolf. Epic with a healthy variety of wait times would be one of the best parks in the country, but that's simply not what we're seeing right now imo.

Celestial needs a proper nighttime show yesterday too.

 

[Mad Dog]

I appreciate the forward-thinking on the part of UDX, but we're no longer in previews and the current experience costs a lot of money. It's just not at the level of other parks and won't be for a number of years. I have no doubt that Epic will be great in a decade or two. What do we do in the meantime? Ignore the obvious cost-cuts and gaps in Epic's lineup?





I think these both speak to the same point. The problem isn't the amount of rides, but the capacity. Until Epic adds a couple big attractions like Luigi's Mansion, Potter, whatever the new portal adds; there just aren't enough rides to soak up even the current non-AP guests that the park is seeing now.

A healthy park would have rides like Yoshi, Carousel, Fyre Drill peak at 25min. Werewolf hover around 30min. Mario Kart and Hiccups around a 45-50min. Ministry and Mine Cart getting Slinky, Hagrids, SDMT-esque waits. But they don't, because almost every ride is built with unreliable ride systems that can't handle the amount of guests they get. Every ride ranges from 40-70 minute waits, including Yoshi, Fyre Drill, and Werewolf. Epic with a healthy variety of wait times would be one of the best parks in the country, but that's simply not what we're seeing right now imo.

Celestial needs a proper nighttime show yesterday too.

plus....the quoted poster had incorrect number of IOA rides as opposed to Epic. IOA has 17 rides, 0 shows. and 10 of those rides are
probably considered D/E level attractions. Epic has 11 rides (2 shows), with a high percentage of B/C ticket rides......Unfortunately, due to
budget issues, Universal underbuilt Epic and that shortsightedness is costing them in lost revenues since they have to limit park capacity
and ticket sales. Not counting all those bad guest experiences that will probably affect future visits.

 

[Jones14]

I do think building in the B/C’s (Yoshi, Dragon Racers, Fyre Drill, Werewolf) at the beginning was a smarter long term play than building one more E-ticket, though.

Those kinds of attractions don’t tend to happen as single additions, and over time their wait times will settle down as the park fills out with more high-profile attractions.

 

[GA-MBIT]

I do think building in the B/C’s (Yoshi, Dragon Racers, Fyre Drill, Werewolf) at the beginning was a smarter long term play than building one more E-ticket, though.

Those kinds of attractions don’t tend to happen as single additions, and over time their wait times will settle down as the park fills out with more high-profile attractions.

We don't need another E-Ticket, we need better B/C's. We will get that E-Ticket, but we won't get the latter.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

plus....the quoted poster had incorrect number of IOA rides as opposed to Epic. IOA has 17 rides, 0 shows. and 10 of those rides are
probably considered D/E level attractions. Epic has 11 rides (2 shows), with a high percentage of B/C ticket rides......Unfortunately, due to
budget issues, Universal underbuilt Epic and that shortsightedness is costing them in lost revenues since they have to limit park capacity
and ticket sales. Not counting all those bad guest experiences that will probably affect future visits.

Yeah I miscounted for IOA - completely forgot about Pteranodon and Storm Force too lol

 

[UniversalRBLX]

What, I believe, Epic needs is a high-capacity E-Ticket dark ride that everyone can ride. This park's Haunted Mansion/Pirates of the Caribbean that can run through a huge amount of people.

 

[Cwoolboy]

Monsters Unchained is Epic's Haunted Mansion. Only other option would be a Luigi's Mansion dark ride, but that won't be coming for a while, if at all. Dark Universe and Wizarding World Paris are much more likely to receive expansions over Super Nintendo World.

 

[NotPennysBoat]

What, I believe, Epic needs is a high-capacity E-Ticket dark ride that everyone can ride. This park's Haunted Mansion/Pirates of the Caribbean that can run through a huge amount of people.

The rumored Creature from the Black Lagoon indoor dark ride would foot this bill perfectly.

 

[SkiBum]

How To Tame Your Dragon would be perfect for a nice slow moving boat ride with a small drop or two. A powered coaster in Wizarding World or the aforementioned Flight of Passage ride. I think that there are plenty of options but Uni's focus is probably more on getting the park on firm ground with reliability.

 

[Mike S]

Monsters Unchained is Epic's Haunted Mansion. Only other option would be a Luigi's Mansion dark ride, but that won't be coming for a while, if at all. Dark Universe and Wizarding World Paris are much more likely to receive expansions over Super Nintendo World.

You never know. With the movie on the way Super Mario Galaxy isn’t off the table for a ride concept. If they get creative with space they could do that AND Luigi’s Mansion.

 

[RFRees]

Dark Universe and Wizarding World Paris are much more likely to receive expansions over Super Nintendo World.

Not sure why you would think SNW would be unlikely to get early expansions.

Dark Universe is my personal pick for the first expansion, but setting my bias aside... SNW is printing money for Universal (and Nintendo). The ROI is probably the highest for adding additional SNW content.

And I believe Alicia had mentioned the high probability of SNW getting one of the first additions in some of her vids/posts from this year.

Edit
I'm not necessarily stating SNW will be the first, just showing justification for why it might be (namely ROI).

 

[UAN17]

There’s so many options for flats that they could theme beautifully that could elevate Celestial Park, add quick capacity and would cost Universal next to nothing compared to their usual projects & don’t take up much space. It feels silly to not do it almost. They could have these up within 8-10 months.

The gorgeous wave swinger at Phantasialand with a great fountain package for example. I’m also a sucker for a Ziera Jetski ride. These are serious fun, even for adults https://www.zierer.com/en/products/roundabouts/jet-skis

I said it previously but in 2000 IOA added the flying unicorn and storm force quickly to address a perceived need at the time - more things for families to do.

 

[Cwoolboy]

Every land will get expansions eventually, I just highly doubt SNW will be among the first considering it is one of the more filled out lands at the park. It's got a kiddie ride, a coaster, and an E-ticket. Not to mention, it's got it's own mini-land as well. Dark Universe, Paris, and Celestial deserve more love first imo.

As for Celestial getting a flat ride, I'd be SO down for a high-flying swing ride (think something along the lines of the Silly Symphony Swings @ DCA)

 

[salismetho]

Sorry if I'm chiming in late but I think my main issue with Celestial Park is that what I presume is supposed to be its "Disney Castle", the Grand Helios Hotel, is sorta bland. I thought that was an odd place to cut the budget considering its prominence in the park.

 

[GA-MBIT]

Monsters Unchained is Epic's Haunted Mansion. Only other option would be a Luigi's Mansion dark ride, but that won't be coming for a while, if at all. Dark Universe and Wizarding World Paris are much more likely to receive expansions over Super Nintendo World.

A Kuka arm simulator, especially one that intense, can never fill the spot of a Haunted Mansion. Unchained is a terrific ride with great capacity, and has similar "omnimover with spooky theming" elements, but the two are entirely different in demographics and intensity.

The keyword is "Everyone". We need more rides for everyone to experience. A high-effort boat ride expansion would be wonderful imo.

 

[AustinT]

I wish there was room for a omnimover dark ride in Celestial Park. I think a cute, whimsical, all-ages ride like that would do wonders for park capacity, CP reception, and for families with little ones. Something like a HerseyPark Chocolate Factory tour (few very simple AAs, many very simple effects in various scenes) with Captain Cacao would help him be an even more popular mascot and would probably help move a ton more merch. Wishing for a non-IP dark ride feels like such a pipe dream these days though.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

I wish there was room for a omnimover dark ride in Celestial Park. I think a cute, whimsical, all-ages ride like that would do wonders for park capacity, CP reception, and for families with little ones. Something like a HerseyPark Chocolate Factory tour (few very simple AAs, many very simple effects in various scenes) with Captain Cacao would help him be an even more popular mascot and would probably help move a ton more merch. Wishing for a non-IP dark ride feels like such a pipe dream these days though.

There is space across Atlantic... but it seems like that is being reserved for an event/flex space.

 

[AustinT]

There is space across Atlantic... but it seems like that is being reserved for an event/flex space.

Taken. That's been permitted and may break ground any day now.