MSHI Expansion?

[paintervision]

I'm a little surprised at this, as the area needing this much TLC would seem like a good enough reason for Disney to pull the contract from Uni. It also makes me sad to see that Uni doesn't seem to be pumping any money into MSHI, aside from the The Hulk.

Disney/Marvel can’t simply “pull the contract” as it was written with an incredible slant towards Universal. Uni has to keep the attractions up to date, which they have for the most part (still highly rated in the park GSATS, behind Potter rides).

When Hulk reopemed with new track, there wasn’t a huge marketing campaign behind it, and MSHI has seen less coverage in commercials and advertising since the push for Spider-Man’s ride film update. My conspiracy theory is that Universal is actively looking for a replacement for the land, since they can’t really capitalize on the MCU (apart from merch, which split sales profits with Marvel/Disney).

 

[Alicia]

...MSHI has seen less coverage in commercials...

On-ride Hulk coaster footage is still in most commercials that are Orlando focused. Lately, nationwide advertising has been shared for both Hollywood and Orlando, so they only included attractions found at both coasts (Minions, Jurassic, Kong, Transformers and Potter.) But if you see an Orlando specific ad, the Hulk is still very much front and center. As well as that shot of Spidey landing on your car from the ride.

 

[Spider-Sonic]

Disney/Marvel can’t simply “pull the contract” as it was written with an incredible slant towards Universal. Uni has to keep the attractions up to date, which they have for the most part (still highly rated in the park GSATS, behind Potter rides).

I would argue that only Spider-Man and Hulk have gotten updates. Hulk got a complete refurb, while Spidey's update was a little half-assed. The HD footage on Spidey is awesome, no doubt about that. But they really should have replaced the cars and the que footage with it.

AFAIK, Storm and Doom have recieved no updates. And it clearly shows on Storm.

When Hulk reopemed with new track, there wasn’t a huge marketing campaign behind it, and MSHI has seen less coverage in commercials and advertising since the push for Spider-Man’s ride film update. My conspiracy theory is that Universal is actively looking for a replacement for the land, since they can’t really capitalize on the MCU (apart from merch, which split sales profits with Marvel/Disney).

I fear you might be right. But I'm a kinda on the fence. It doesn't make much financial sense to update two rides, only to replace them not long after. Uni also still features Spider-Man in plenty of their promos.

 

[jseal777]

I’m holding out hope that Uni is just really busy with other projects and once the new park is up and running MSHI will get a massive new E ticket and some other refurbs to keep the attention spread nicely between the 4 parks

 

[Andysol]

Just rode Spider-Man, 2-3 times per day after staying at Universal for a whole week. Spider-Man is still my favorite ride in the park hands down. Its so well done and has so much heart and soul. Hard to believe the ride is 20yrs old.

But with that said I can't help but notice that the ride does need a little TLC. The Scoop cars look a little run down, all of them have their headlight covers turning yellow, one of them even had black covers over top of the headlights. I was also in a car where the front speakers didn't work, with a door that rattled really bad. The poor condition of the Scoops really show the rides age, and could really use some replacing. And considering Transformers pretty much use the same car for Evac, replacing them shouldn't be a difficult task as clearly the molds still exist. Replace the Scoops with a modified Evac car that replaces the faux tires with faux tank treads. Using Evac also gets rid of the satellite on the back of the Scoop, giving it a much needed modern look.

To be honest, all of MSHI could use some refurbishment. Some of the buildings not only have washed out colors, but some also have some fixtures that are rotting out.

The subwoofer on Storm Force is blown, and some of the lights that are supposed to interact with the music don't work any more. I understand Storm Force doesn't see much traffic these days, but c'mon it looks bad.

I'm a little surprised at this, as the area needing this much TLC would seem like a good enough reason for Disney to pull the contract from Uni. It also makes me sad to see that Uni doesn't seem to be pumping any money into MSHI, aside from the The Hulk. I just feel that people pay a lot of money to be in the parks, and stuff should really be kept up on.

That’s Universal for you.
They’ll do things like update FJ over several nights and not even tell anybody. Or refurb the Dino skins weekly/monthly on JPRA. Or decide to completely redo Hulk in what almost seemed like a whim. Then right in between those two you have Dudley, which has been in a pretty poor state for years and years.

Some things are impeccably maintained and others they just let fall into complete disrepair.

And for a ride like Spider-Man (and honestly, potentially MiB and definitely Mummy fall in this category too)- they could be and should be timeless rides that my kids should be able to take their kids on when they have them. But instead of needing a replacement and spending $X million on it, their philosophy always seems to go as long as they can before repair gets too costly and then simply replace it.
MiB, Mummy and to a lesser extent, spider man aren’t going anywhere for a LONG time as there are way bigger priorities to replace before they get there. LC, TL, Shrek/production central, kidzone, Simpsons just to name a few. MiB/Mummy/Spider-Man are a decade plus before replacement (if ever for spidey). And things aren’t going to get better unless they spend money on them. Do we really need Mummy running poorly with few show effects or spider man vehicles with tape on them? Or can they spend a fraction of what a new ride would cost so that, not only does it last 10 more years easily, but it does it in style and top notch presentation.

I wish they’d dump a little cash flow into these rides and areas- I completely agree with you.

 

[Spider-Sonic]

That’s Universal for you.
They’ll do things like update FJ over several nights and not even tell anybody. Or refurb the Dino skins weekly/monthly on JPRA. Or decide to completely redo Hulk in what almost seemed like a whim. Then right in between those two you have Dudley, which has been in a pretty poor state for years and years.

Some things are impeccably maintained and others they just let fall into complete disrepair.

And for a ride like Spider-Man (and honestly, potentially MiB and definitely Mummy fall in this category too)- they could be and should be timeless rides that my kids should be able to take their kids on when they have them. But instead of needing a replacement and spending $X million on it, their philosophy always seems to go as long as they can before repair gets too costly and then simply replace it.
MiB, Mummy and to a lesser extent, spider man aren’t going anywhere for a LONG time as there are way bigger priorities to replace before they get there. LC, TL, Shrek/production central, kidzone, Simpsons just to name a few. MiB/Mummy/Spider-Man are a decade plus before replacement (if ever for spidey). And things aren’t going to get better unless they spend money on them. Do we really need Mummy running poorly with few show effects or spider man vehicles with tape on them? Or can they spend a fraction of what a new ride would cost so that, not only does it last 10 more years easily, but it does it in style and top notch presentation.

I wish they’d dump a little cash flow into these rides and areas- I completely agree with you.

I think Potter getting the luxury of routine maintenance and updates has a lot to do with Rowling. I've heard she has a lot of control over what goes on there. Though if I'm honest, I don't quite remember the Hogwarts express being that dingy looking on the outside 2yrs ago.

I definitely seen the what you mean on the Dino skins in Jurassic Park. One of the dinos playing tug of war with the shirt has a tear in one of the knees exposing the gear.

 

[SkiBum]

That’s Universal for you.
They’ll do things like update FJ over several nights and not even tell anybody. Or refurb the Dino skins weekly/monthly on JPRA. Or decide to completely redo Hulk in what almost seemed like a whim. Then right in between those two you have Dudley, which has been in a pretty poor state for years and years.

Some things are impeccably maintained and others they just let fall into complete disrepair.

And for a ride like Spider-Man (and honestly, potentially MiB and definitely Mummy fall in this category too)- they could be and should be timeless rides that my kids should be able to take their kids on when they have them. But instead of needing a replacement and spending $X million on it, their philosophy always seems to go as long as they can before repair gets too costly and then simply replace it.
MiB, Mummy and to a lesser extent, spider man aren’t going anywhere for a LONG time as there are way bigger priorities to replace before they get there. LC, TL, Shrek/production central, kidzone, Simpsons just to name a few. MiB/Mummy/Spider-Man are a decade plus before replacement (if ever for spidey). And things aren’t going to get better unless they spend money on them. Do we really need Mummy running poorly with few show effects or spider man vehicles with tape on them? Or can they spend a fraction of what a new ride would cost so that, not only does it last 10 more years easily, but it does it in style and top notch presentation.

I wish they’d dump a little cash flow into these rides and areas- I completely agree with you.

I hope that they never take Spiderman out. It is as iconic for IOA as Pirates or HM is for MK. I guess that they should close it between New Years and the second week of March to refurb it. I always thought that rides should be on a refurb schedule but staggered so that the parks aren't without multiple signature attractions at a time.

 

[Galaxy Defender]

It would be better if Universal did more spot refurbishments on the attractions rather than waiting for big refurbishments.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

I do think MSHI needs a general aesthetic change as a Phase 1 - just update facades to be more like Hulk. And then a possible Phase 2 of removing Storm and Fear Fall for a new ride.

 

[OLSinFLA]

I think Potter getting the luxury of routine maintenance and updates has a lot to do with Rowling. I've heard she has a lot of control over what goes on there. Though if I'm honest, I don't quite remember the Hogwarts express being that dingy looking on the outside 2yrs ago.

I definitely seen the what you mean on the Dino skins in Jurassic Park. One of the dinos playing tug of war with the shirt has a tear in one of the knees exposing the gear.

The "dirt" on the express is deliberate. (Its also how we can tell train 1 from train 2 but thats a secret... shhh)

 

[zg44]

Not sure why there's so much speculation on Marvel's status at IoA.

The license is dirt cheap and incredibly favorable to Universal. I'd be shocked if it ever went anywhere unless Disney was giving something big to Universal in exchange. And even then I can't see Universal trading it out... because it blocks WDW from using most of Marvel.

 

[Paulio]

I’m holding out hope that Uni is just really busy with other projects and once the new park is up and running MSHI will get a massive new E ticket and some other refurbs to keep the attention spread nicely between the 4 parks

As I stated here a couple of times, Stan Lee apparently loved the old-style comic-book island because he wanted to keep that way and to remind people that Marvel originated from comics rather than the movies that are being put out now. Yeah, Universal really needed to update MSHI, but I bet Disney wouldn't like it if they try and update island with MCU, since it would make it a blurring distinction between Marvel properties in Disney and Universal parks. I'm sure Universal doesn't want MCU style either because it would promote the hell out of Disney's MCU, except the merchandises they have in the stores. Due to the way Universal is focusing now, it's very unlikely we might see any changes in MSHI anytime soon. However, if Comcast acquired Fox successfully and make the X-Men movies properly, we might see major changes such as Deadpool appearance or attraction at MSHI.

 

[shiekra38]

I’m holding out hope that Uni is just really busy with other projects and once the new park is up and running MSHI will get a massive new E ticket and some other refurbs to keep the attention spread nicely between the 4 parks

Marvel is successful at the current moment..It needs a new ride, but it is super backburner for them, understandably so

 

[Mad Dog]

They probably would have already been in the construction process of building a new ride there if they could have gotten the Iron Legion tech concept to work. Unfortunately they didn't.

 

[shiekra38]

Whatever happened to that rumored Avengers ride and Dr. Doom replacement?

 

[Mad Dog]

Whatever happened to that rumored Avengers ride and Dr. Doom replacement?

I think that had moved on to the Iron Legion concept.

 

[GadgetGuru]

Universal’s maintenance schedule is so strange. They seem to fixate on certain attractions at the expense of others. Once a ride is deemed “old enough,” they basically let it languish until it’s resdyvto be replaced.

Toon Lagoon is a perfect example. From what I understand, any plans for TL are now way, way in the future. Yet, there’s no way any money is going to be spent on TL.

 

[shiekra38]

Universal’s maintenance schedule is so strange. They seem to fixate on certain attractions at the expense of others. Once a ride is deemed “old enough,” they basically let it languish until it’s resdyvto be replaced.

Toon Lagoon is a perfect example. From what I understand, any plans for TL are now way, way in the future. Yet, there’s no way any money is going to be spent on TL.

I think when an attraction is earmarked for replacement, they leave it alone

I wonder how the IP holders determine the schedule of refurb as well...HP is an extreme example, but I wonder if Spielberg has some clauses for his IPs (JPRA, etc)

 

[Galaxy Defender]

The license is dirt cheap and incredibly favorable to Universal. I'd be shocked if it ever went anywhere unless Disney was giving something big to Universal in exchange. And even then I can't see Universal trading it out... because it blocks WDW from using most of Marvel.

Good information that the contract is very favorable to Universal and cheap too.

Licensing the rights is cheap and it blocks Walt Disney World. Two great reasons for MSHI to be around for a long time.

 

[Scott W.]

I hope that they never take Spiderman out. It is as iconic for IOA as Pirates or HM is for MK. I guess that they should close it between New Years and the second week of March to refurb it. I always thought that rides should be on a refurb schedule but staggered so that the parks aren't without multiple signature attractions at a time.

Spider-Man is what gives me the most conflict about MSHI. Take it away and MSHI is average. Hulk is great but it it would still be the same if it was rethemed to something else.

I'm at a point now where I wish something would happen with Marvel in Orlando whether Universal finally build something new or Disney take the IP back. my concerns with Disney taking it back is that Spider-Man has to go which would be the biggest travesty in theme park history and Disney aren't exactly doing great things with the IP but they're doing something. Guardians is an excellent ride and surpasses ToT as far as I'm concerned but it's impossible to do at DHS.