Apart from the tents, which are minimal investments which are intended to give back to daytime operations the space they technically already own, where is there any “HHN dedicated space” at the park? And those tents double as storage. The new TM facility backstage is being built because the current TM infrastructure is 35 years old and wasn’t designed for two parks. The improvement is a necessary modernization that has nothing to do with HHN. They are not going to build a whole new building to provide green room space that’s only going to be used by HHN. The park does not revolve around HHN. If the investment does not benefit daytime operations during the other ten months of the year, Universal is not going to prioritize it.
Back to your other points - where can Universal put full “lounges” apart from where they are? SeaWorld, because they don’t require the infrastructure, actually uses already built structures for their lounges. Universal is already using almost every inch of available space for food service. And the inches they aren’t using can’t be used because they’re heavily used during the days. Universal has (at least) three times more food services people working just as many more locations than SeaWorld. They’re not comparable.
And there is a drastic difference between requiring an ambulance to cross a queue than run the length of a queue. Think about how much space is necessary for two queues (Express and Standby) and an Exit. For reference, an entrance portal is five-ish feet wide? So entrances require ten feet. Exit requires 10-15. So let’s say 20 feet. The side gates can’t be used since they’re for employee movement. How wide is the Esoteric gate? How much space remains for an ambulance to drive through the gate (not cross the queue)? If it’s less than 10 feet, it’s not enough
My frustration with a lot your ideas is exactly what you admit, you want to improve things, “based on what you see.” But you’re only seeing things from the perspective of a guest with satellite view. That’s the tip of the logistical and managerial iceberg.
I'd argue investing in proper green room spaces/TM BoH is a priority. Yes HHN only operates 2 months out of the year, but they generate a lot of revenue and goodwill from it. Heck, if you can't use that area behind Hollywood, use the old Hard Rock Cafe area between Kidzone/ET for a location that is currently just a staging area for random stuff. (Area you would walk by to get to parade buildings)
Space for themed lounges:
- Music Plaza Stage - put up bar tables, and string up some halloween lighting/decor like they do for the 4th. Relocate a house entrance queue to only cover the entry/exit off to the side. This area of the park was bursting at the seams, they need all they space they can get and the queue takes up valuable real estate.
- Hollywood Tribute Store - (ample turn around between last night of HHN & November 22nd)
- Animal Actors stroller parking - they've relocated a few bars here, but don't provide enough lounge tables or seating. It's grab and get out.
- Transformers Extended Queue - the extended queue under the shelter isn't utilized much anymore, and if they need the extra queue space for holiday weekends, they can just setup their temporary queue on the street. I think I mentioned earlier in the Minion Cafe discussion, but the Transformers extended queue should be absorbed by Minion Cafe, that way it can add seating capacity for both the cafe and lounge. Literally just paint it yellow, and then setup some generic Halloween decor.
- Cafe La Bamba, open it up to the public and serve drinks at the counter. (Yes I know RIP Tours use this space, but they already take over a ridiculous amount of space at Horror Makeup, Fallon, Lombard's)
- Battery Park - using it now, but similar to the AA location, they don't provide much seating or tables... let alone any entertainment. Just a few "themed" graphics and a gobo or two lol
This excludes my (and others) previous ideas of creating festival centers outside USF's typical boundary (like the BMG area) to provide additional space for the event to operate in. Unfortunately, the event is too condensed to the NY/MIB area.
On the Esoteric/Ambulance space issue, the Esoteric gate is 20 ft. across, so is the gate over by Bourne. Put the entry portal at the Bourne gate, and the exit to the house at Esoteric. The distance from the Bourne gate to a potential tent in the green space area is similar to the Kidzone/Parade walk. Also, have you seen some of the house exits recently... they're like maybe 5 feet across nowadays lol.
I know there's a lot of Blue Sky happening in any park forum/site, but I tend to be very realistic and analytical. I'm not spewing things out of my month without any backup.
Aren't there other rides other than Transformers open and if you have this 4 hour block why not do Nightmare Fuel? I would also say if food lines are 30 minutes and Universal makes money on food, merch, and alcohol and not tickets then Universal needs to open up more food options.
Yes Rockit/Mummy/Gringotts/MIB are all open as well, but they got decent waits the last two years now. Universal doesn't need more food options, they just need to be more efficient at their current locations.
Check the stats if you don't believe me, but tied with Saturday for busiest night. Also feels busier from open, no build to the crowd, slammed from Stay & Scream on.
Weds/Thurs too are busy. I mentioned this earlier, but some Saturdays felt less crowded/more manageable than some weekdays.