Dark Universe (Epic Universe)

[Parkscope Joe]

I'd caution against reading too much into statements made in what is essentially a marketing-led hype video. We'll see where it lands when the park opens, but I'd be very surprised if it dramatically breaks the current threshold for "scariest daytime theme park attraction."

Marching my ass to Guest Relations demanding my money back because it wasn't as scary as when I was 8 and rode Splash Mountain for the first time.

 

[OLSinFLA]

I think everyone here is ignoring the potential that this ride could also partially be a sensory experience like Alien Encounter, maybe using some technology within the restraints and seats of the ride vehicle itself, which could really increase the scariness levels a lot. Also even if that doesn't turn out to be the case, the Dementors on FJ already get very close to you and freak me out sometimes and they don't even move, I can see this ride definitely being quite scary.

Before the arms were removed the dementors came waaaaay to close. First time I jumped (I was seated on the left, close to the first one.) Closeness is why the arms were removed, I guess

 

[Clive]

As I recall, the arms were removed because they struck a vehicle during testing. They fixed it for all subsequent iterations of Forbidden Journey but never restored the original, which is frustrating.

 

[HHN Maddux]

Wait, the dementors used to have arms that would reach out?

 

[fryoj]

Diversity of experiences for a diversity of guests. I would argue that this park has so many kid friendly attractions that having one attraction that attracts and targets more thrilling audiences really isn't an issue. You neuter the ride so one time visit 5 year old Timmy can ride, you lost single adult with substantial disposable income who has the ability to come back and increase guest spending.

The amount of disposable income adults who won't come back because there wasn't enough gore on one ride is very small.

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

I think everyone here is ignoring the potential that this ride could also partially be a sensory experience like Alien Encounter, maybe using some technology within the restraints and seats of the ride vehicle itself, which could really increase the scariness levels a lot. Also even if that doesn't turn out to be the case, the Dementors on FJ already get very close to you and freak me out sometimes and they don't even move, I can see this ride definitely being quite scary.

I guess everyone has their own definition of "scariness level" but I feel like Alien Encounter was way above theme park haunts in terms of scariness since closing your eyes did diddly squat and covering your ears didn't do much better. Also from how perfectly the entire attraction built up the horror.

 

[quinnmac000]

The amount of disposable income adults who won't come back because there wasn't enough gore on one ride is very small.

I never specifically stated gore. What I'm trying to highlight is the thought process that its smart business to neuter an attraction and what it can be to appease a demographic that is already has been addressed thoroughly within the same park. It goes back to people not learning from mistakes of the past from competitors (what became Disney's issue back in the early 2010s) and why Universal also picked up market share aside from Potter. This is also a first of its kind permanent land for a major theme park in the US focused on something not built and focused in happiness and joy. The goal should be to expand the interests to those who normally aren't into the current offerings, appeal them with something they like, and have them have a great experience overall they want to come back.

Going back to the early 2010s, prior to SWGE, AVATAR, etc, Disney focus was low thrill and overly broad family friendly. Additionally, this was close to the when Disney purchased Marvel but at the time, most of the IP expansions were focused on IPs that were immensely more popular with American woman than American men. That lead to a significant amount of males feeling underrepresented in their interests within the Disney Parks and was likely a factor in why more families starting to split trips in Florida aside from Potter. I 100% understand the thought process of someone buying a ticket and wanting to do everything and have everything appeal and appease them, however, it ends up in sanitizing things in not so good way.

Dark Universe is a horror based land. Universal Monster films are classified as Horror, they might not being scary to modern audiences, they were terrifying to audiences back in the day. The land should be respectful of that legacy and built to maintain that integrity otherwise you end up with a Tom Cruise's The Mummy level experience where you try to turn the monsters into the avengers which isn't what they are. This likely will bring people who generally enjoy darker and scarier things and they will be expecting it. Those people typically aren't young children. Just like when some attractions, people will later grow into them or realize its not for them and skip it. Just like what some families already do with Tower of Terror. (Just want to point out that even within Disney parks they increased intensity and scare level. Tokyo Disney Sea created a more intense/scary variation of Tower of Terror called Level 13 that opens seasonally because the GP wanted something more intense)