Universal Studios Florida: What Do We Think About It?

[docholiday]

I wouldn’t hate for USF to have a coherent identity.

 

[SeventyOne]

One benefit of Pokémon at USF is that it would presumably be set within a city environment.

If designed correctly, it could fit in with the general cityscape look of the rest of the park, rather than the more otherworldly environments found at IOA and Epic.

I guess DCA has that Baymax sci-fi hybrid now, but a Tokyo themed "land," comparable to NYC or London, would feel unique in Orlando. Can justify attractions/shops for Pokemon, Godzilla, Sanrio/Hello Kitty, whichever anime eventually breaks through to the mainstream -- even throw in a sushi bar and Benihana style restaurant (the latter arguably the biggest touristy thing UOR is missing).

 

[Freak]

SpongeBob would be a solid IP to replace Springfield I’m just saying. It’s a long-running cartoon with a lot of iconic fictional food items.

Hey maybe they can get away with keeping the Frying Dutchman.

 

[biggerboat16]

I guess DCA has that Baymax sci-fi hybrid now, but a Tokyo themed "land," comparable to NYC or London, would feel unique in Orlando. Can justify attractions/shops for Pokemon, Godzilla, Sanrio/Hello Kitty, whichever anime eventually breaks through to the mainstream -- even throw in a sushi bar and Benihana style restaurant (the latter arguably the biggest touristy thing UOR is missing).

This sounds much better to me than a specific Pokémon land. Personally I love the idea of the lands at USF being real life cities. That’s also why I’m a big proponent of Bond replacing fear factor so London can expand. I think a Godzilla e-ticket would be incredible and could be a spiritual successor to Kongfrontation. There could be another attraction based around Pokémon using webslingers tech where you “catch em all” and compete with other riders. That area of the park just feels too large for a single IP, which is an issue I have with Springfield.

 

[Freak]

Being that the common theme of all of the lands are basically landmark cities from different parts of the globe, I really like the idea of a Tokyo land. I doubt Sony would approve, but if you really wanted to go all-in on the Tokyo concept, you could do a light reskin for MIB to be set in Tokyo. Have it themed to the MIB: Tokyo Unit. If they don’t like it, then have a MIB-equivalent ride themed to GB.

I don’t want to go too far down the armchair imagineer rabbit hole, but as @SeventyOne said, a Godzilla ride akin to Kongfrontation would go HARD there as well as a Pokemon ride. If they weren’t already building a f&F coaster at the front (Which I assume they are), a Tokyo drift coaster would be fantastic.

 

[mccgavin]

I don't really see them taking the Tokyo route. Universal started the trend of highly-immersive single-IP lands, and for the most part, they haven't deviated from that formular. A land themed solely to Pokémon would be more easily marketable to the general public, not to mention that Pokémon is popular enough, and has enough depth to it to justify a full land, especially if they integrate interactive experiences.

Stuff like Hello Kitty and Godzilla have the potential to work as attractions, but they aren't nearly as popular as Pokémon, and I don't think their inclusion over a fully-realized Pokémon Land would beneficial to the park in the long run, especially with additional licensing complexities.

As for London, I think it's been mentioned before that other IPs cannot be used within it. Even though it is outside of Diagon Alley, it is very much Harry Potter's version of London, and therefore an extension of The Wizarding World.

There could be another attraction based around Pokémon using webslingers tech where you “catch em all” and compete with other riders.

I sincerely hope Universal's plans for Pokémon are more ambitious than this. I have a more positive opinion of Minion Blast than most others, but the park really does not need another attraction like this.

 

[DarkMetroid567]

Stuff like Hello Kitty and Godzilla have the potential to work as attractions, but they aren't nearly as popular as Pokémon, and I don't think their inclusion over a fully-realized Pokémon Land would beneficial to the park in the long run, especially with additional licensing complexities.

Kinda an irrelevant counterpoint but I think you can argue that Hello Kitty is more popular. A Sanrioland (in California, at least) would do insane numbers and would likely attract more unique visitors than another video game would.

 

[mccgavin]

Kinda an irrelevant counterpoint but I think you can argue that Hello Kitty is more popular. A Sanrioland (in California, at least) would do insane numbers and would likely attract more unique visitors than another video game would.

Hello Kitty is big, but Pokémon is quite literally highest grossing multimedia franchise in the world. It has even surpassed cultural juggernauts like Mickey Mouse and Star Wars.

Also, at this point, I don't think Pokémon is generally seen as a "video game IP" in the same way that stuff like Mario and Sonic are. Of course, it does originate from a video game, but it contains a vast number of sub-sections of the fandom, which don't necessarily overlap. I've known people who have solely watched the anime, played the TCG, or collected Pokémon plushies and lifestyle products, but have never even touched the games. It has a very large and diverse fandom, and it could have the potential to be an even bigger draw than Mario if it is done correctly.

 

[Mad Dog]

Hello Kitty merch didn't sell well in the east (Orlando). Doubt we'll see that as an attraction in Orlando. Probably more of a west coast thing partly due to demographics.

 

[DarkMetroid567]

Also, at this point, I don't think Pokémon is generally seen as a "video game IP" in the same way that stuff like Mario and Sonic are. Of course, it does originate from a video game, but it contains a vast number of sub-sections of the fandom, which don't necessarily overlap. I've known people who have solely watched the anime, played the TCG, or collected Pokémon plushies and lifestyle products, but have never even touched the games. It has a very large and diverse fandom, and it could have the potential to be an even bigger draw than Mario if it is done correctly.

That’s true. But I still feel like the marginal overlap is there; the people who I know would be drawn to a full Pokemon land have already made it to USH for Mario. I also struggle to really imagine what a full IP land for Pokemon would look like — the diversity you mention also makes the locales for Pokemon kinda difficult to pin down. There isn’t really a particular strong setting that casual Pokemon fans associate the franchise with, and that’s even more true for the card players. Even the Switch Pokemon games are imo kinda ugly and don’t lend themselves to the immersive environments that Uni is good at.

Hello Kitty merch didn't sell well in the east (Orlando). Doubt we'll see that as an attraction in Orlando. Probably more of a west coast thing partly due to demographics.

That’s also true. Sanrio seems to be most popular in the west, especially the two states I spend the most time in. But I remember disliking the store and I don’t think Universal has ever given Sanrio/Hello Kitty a great shake, even at USJ. Though I can imagine that might be due to Sanrio’s IP control.

All in all, I wouldn’t discount the idea of a Sanrio attraction happening. Kuromi, My Melody, and Cinnamoroll are getting more popular than ever and I foresee that continuing. We used to have a Sanrio store in Vegas that closed a long while ago. Now the line for Hello Kitty Cafe is always absurd.

 

[mccgavin]

That’s true. But I still feel like the marginal overlap is there; the people who I know would be drawn to a full Pokemon land have already made it to USH for Mario. I also struggle to really imagine what a full IP land for Pokemon would look like — the diversity you mention also makes the locales for Pokemon kinda difficult to pin down. There isn’t really a particular strong setting that casual Pokemon fans associate the franchise with, and that’s even more true for the card players. Even the Switch Pokemon games are imo kinda ugly and don’t lend themselves to the immersive environments that Uni is good at.

If we do get a Pokémon Land, I imagine it will be an original setting, rather than one pulled directly from the games or anime. Pokémon tends to introduce completely different characters and locations when utilizing a new medium, with the Pokémon themselves always being the connecting thread between them.

The key would be to create an environment that would allow visitors to find, interact with, and (presumably through the use of interactive technology) catch a wide variety of Pokémon. Universal's ability to execute these concepts would make or break the land.

 

[Frank Drackman]

Hello Kitty merch didn't sell well in the east (Orlando). Doubt we'll see that as an attraction in Orlando. Probably more of a west coast thing partly due to demographics.

and yet they continue to stock the selves with her and her friends merch (and folks still buy it)

 

[mccgavin]

and yet they continue to stock the selves with her and her friends merch (and folks still buy it)

And they should, as they have the license to do so. Even if it's not as much of a hit as they want it to be, causing them to close the dedicated store, it still sells enough to justify them producing it. It helps that they can utilize the same continually produced merchandise that Hollywood gets, where the demand is much higher.

 

[Mad Dog]

and yet they continue to stock the selves with her and her friends merch (and folks still buy it)

They still put the SLOP stuff on the shelves, even though it sells poorly also. They'll eek out whatever they can since they're paying for the rights. Bottom line, it was a merch disappointment in Orlando. Kind of similar of what happened at WDW concerning the Japanese bear that sold so well on the west coast and in Japan.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Hello Kitty merch is often seen at the UOR garage sales. It's popular, but not sure if its more popular than other relevant IP choices out there.

 

[greendude33]

I think the live-action aesthetic of Detective Pikachu is the way to do Pokémon at USF, rather than the cartoony aesthetic of the games or anime. Would create a nice contrast with Super Nintendo World, and the more realistic style of the city would meld better with the USF aesthetic.



Tokyo-style city with lots of neon, some sort of high-tech Pokémon lab area, and a nature/safari-park area would kind of hit all the areas you would expect from Pokémon. Pokémon animatronics littered throughout.

 

[GA-MBIT]

I think the live-action aesthetic of Detective Pikachu is the way to do Pokémon at USF, rather than the cartoony aesthetic of the games or anime. Would create a nice contrast with Super Nintendo World, and the more realistic style of the city would meld better with the USF aesthetic.



Tokyo-style city with lots of neon, some sort of high-tech Pokémon lab area, and a nature/safari-park area would kind of hit all the areas you would expect from Pokémon. Pokémon animatronics littered throughout.

I've always liked the idea of Ryme City from Detective Pikachu as a less established location within canon; where you can include all of the iconic parts of a Pokemon journey, while designing the layout and offerings of the land itself to the needs of USF as a park.

I do think it's possible to make the more cartoony style of the Pokemon games, show, cards, etc., work in a more realistic setting. Here's one example of it: this is a trailer for Pokemon Go from a few years back advertising the launch of "Ultra Beasts", essentially extra-dimensional alien Pokemon, to the mobile game. They took it in a very SCP / Cloverfield kinda direction and I think it works surprisingly well, even with the cartoony designs.

 

[rabbitsmoon]

I wouldn’t hate for USF to have a coherent identity.

There's work that can be done to beautify the entrance area, but I think a bit of chaos and incoherence is endemic to Universal Studios. Minions work so well as park mascots for a reason; they embody the spirit of the brand.

Studios parks will always be strange beasts, but there's something to them that still appeals to this day. Old Hollywood's art deco aesthetics are part of it, but so is the promise of a classic backlot mash-up, where different genres spill out from the soundstages and into the streets. I think it's instructive that Universal built 3 international parks since IOA and that all of them ended up looking more like USF.

I feel like some folks want USF to be something other than what it's meant to be, rather than a plussed-up version of itself. To me the problem is pretty simple: they built some duds that need replacement. If they can swap out HRRR, Supercharged, and Simpsons in the next 6-ish years with better stuff, I'll be very happy with the state of the park.

 

[TheUniC6]

There's work that can be done to beautify the entrance area, but I think a bit of chaos and incoherence is endemic to Universal Studios. Minions work so well as park mascots for a reason; they embody the spirit of the brand.

Studios parks will always be strange beasts, but there's something to them that still appeals to this day. Old Hollywood's art deco aesthetics are part of it, but so is the promise of a classic backlot mash-up, where different genres spill out from the soundstages and into the streets. I think it's instructive that Universal built 3 international parks since IOA and that all of them ended up looking more like USF.

I feel like some folks want USF to be something other than what it's meant to be, rather than a plussed-up version of itself. To me the problem is pretty simple: they built some duds that need replacement. If they can swap out HRRR, Supercharged, and Simpsons in the next 6-ish years with better stuff, I'll be very happy with the state of the park.

And they need to prioritize the Supercharged and Simpsons replacements over any of the phase 2 stuff for EU if the aforementioned park is sucking all the oxygen in the room away from IOA and USF. EU can wait a bit for the phase 2 stuff.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

I feel like some folks want USF to be something other than what it's meant to be, rather than a plussed-up version of itself. To me the problem is pretty simple: they built some duds that need replacement. If they can swap out HRRR, Supercharged, and Simpsons in the next 6-ish years with better stuff, I'll be very happy with the state of the park.

The problem is that while replacing the duds will do tremendous work, USF's current aesthetic will be seen as outdated & antiquated when it comes to what theme park guests want... especially once people see Epic. People like interesting visuals.

The 3 parks Universal built internationally have transitioned from a 1/2 copy of USF (Japan) to then completely removing nearly every trace of it in Beijing except for Hollywood and the one large 'false' soundstage-themed building to disguise the Lights, Camera, Action show-building. Over time, they've clawed back on that concept.

An aesthetic overhaul is not just for looks, but includes guest comfort. More trees, gardens, etc.