Universal's Epic Universe General News & Discussion

[Brian G.]

That’s all the more reason to just keep the park closed. Stress testing and having things go down is one thing, inviting people in knowing it’s going to be a lesser experience is worse.

While I don't agree with the price, there's no way to test most of these without people. That's the whole deal with the early previews. A discounted (though not much) ticket with fewer crowds, but the chance that attractions/experiences may be closed or experience downtime.

You open without testing and get an experience like VB's opening.

 

[Pacific]

Yeah nah, it was silly to continue these previews, especially charging that much for it. They know what the issues are now due to the previews. Close down shop and accelerate the iron out before opening.

(Edited)

 

[Brian G.]

Yeah nah, it was silly to continue these previews, especially charging that much for it.

So you would rather have these arise when they charge full price after it's officially opened? Because that's the trade-off?

Two rides are currently closed - Werewolf and Ministry, both advertised as closed ahead of time. Everything else has been fine, outside of random closings for said testing reasons or weather. Online is, once again, blowing things out of proportion.

 

[Pacific]

So you would rather have these arise when they charge full price after it's officially opened? Because that's the trade-off?

I edited but like I said in the edit, I think they have enough information on what needs to be fixed. So I think ending previews (they can't do that now of course) and accelerating the ironing out process without guests would do wonders.

 

[Brian G.]

I edited but like I said in the edit, I think they have enough information on what needs to be fixed. So I think ending previews (they can't do that now of course) and accelerating the ironing out process without guests would do wonders.

I added this after your edit but...

Two rides are currently closed - Werewolf and Ministry, both advertised as closed ahead of time. Everything else has been fine, outside of random closings for said testing reasons or weather. Online is, once again, blowing things out of proportion.

 

[OrlandoGuy]

People can choose not to attend during previews.

I wasn’t even really talking about the people part of it. If they need to plan ride closures for things like filming and training, it would also be easier on Universal to not have to worry about the guest impact.

And this isn’t some radical idea…Universal was not initially available for previews this close to opening. There’s a non-0 chance Ops would prefer to be closed as well, with the decision being overridden by Marketing.

 

[Brian G.]

And this isn’t some radical idea…Universal was not initially available for previews this close to opening.

Which famously went so well…

 

[tyro]

Werewolf closure was extended by 2 days today. Is there a chance they are updating the theming at the end of the ride based on feedback or is it a tech issue similar to whatever stardust was dealing with.

 

[OrlandoGuy]

Which famously went so well…

I meant for the two weeks leading up to opening. They did have an extended test period before things started getting dicey.

It’s like @Pacific said…if they found issues that needed addressing from March to April, that’s a successful test. No need to push it farther when you have things to take care of leading up to grand opening.

 

[HHN Maddux]

Werewolf closure was extended by 2 days today. Is there a chance they are updating the theming at the end of the ride based on feedback or is it a tech issue similar to whatever stardust was dealing with.

I have to imagine it's to fix the ending, Werewolf has been one of the more reliable attractions through all of previews.

 

[Brian G.]

I meant for the two weeks leading up to opening. They did have an extended test period before things started getting dicey.

It’s like @Pacific said…if they found issues that needed addressing from March to April, that’s a successful test. No need to push it farther when you have things to take care of leading up to grand opening.

But this is all under the presumption that the park is experiencing severe issues, necessitating closing to address them. Obviously, the demand is there. If Ministry, which we all know why, and Werewolf, which seems to be a quick one, are the only 2 with "known" issues - why close the park? Again, these closures aren't just testing for ride issues. It's how ops handles fire rescue and medical emergencies, and what happens to crowd flow if this ride and that ride are closed simultaneously. Even those complaining to GS about their day? That's part of the process (and it seems Universal is even leaving the "it's previews" excuse and making good to guests if there was a bad day). All these require us as "test subjects". Outside of random occurrences, everything has been fine.

 

[Legacy]

The military has a phrase called “reps and sets.” It’s a term we use to basically describe “practice;” the more we do something, the more intuitive (and quicker) it becomes. And we do it for everything from firing artillery to building a tent. Every second matters for us, so the more innate a skill is, the more efficient we are when it matters.

The trick is that it doesn’t take a lot to LOSE that efficiency. If a unit builds a tent every day for two weeks, by day 13 it will be an easy, quick process. But, if they take a month off after that two weeks, it will be chaos the next time they try it. The muscle memory is gone, and they have to rebuild the efficiencies. This is natural.

The continued previews are for the EMPLOYEES! They’re not for guests. If Universal closed the park for an extended period, then the efficiencies the Team Members have gained over the past 2 months will be lost. That lost efficiency will make for a worse opening day experience.

Every day Epic is open for previews allows more reps and sets for the EMPLOYEES. Universal wants park operations to be second nature on May 22. Continuing previews—regardless of the status of the attractions—is the only way to accomplish that.

 

[Brian G.]

The military has a phrase called “reps and sets.” It’s a term we use to basically describe “practice;” the more we do something, the more intuitive (and quicker) it becomes. And we do it for everything from firing artillery to building a tent. Every second matters for us, so the more innate a skill is, the more efficient we are when it matters.

The trick is that it doesn’t take a lot to LOSE that efficiency. If a unit builds a tent every day for two weeks, by day 13 it will be an easy, quick process. But, if they take a month off after that two weeks, it will be chaos the next time they try it. The muscle memory is gone, and they have to rebuild the efficiencies. This is natural.

The continued previews are for the EMPLOYEES! They’re not for guests. If Universal closed the park for an extended period, then the efficiencies the Team Members have gained over the past 2 months will be lost. That lost efficiency will make for a worse opening day experience.

Every day Epic is open for previews allows more reps and sets for the EMPLOYEES. Universal wants park operations to be second nature on May 22. Continuing previews—regardless of the status of the attractions—is the only way to accomplish that.

Probably should add that the GP, which provides a different dataset than APs and TMs, have only been going for about 10 days of the last 2 months.

 

[OrlandoGuy]

The military has a phrase called “reps and sets.” It’s a term we use to basically describe “practice;” the more we do something, the more intuitive (and quicker) it becomes. And we do it for everything from firing artillery to building a tent. Every second matters for us, so the more innate a skill is, the more efficient we are when it matters.

The trick is that it doesn’t take a lot to LOSE that efficiency. If a unit builds a tent every day for two weeks, by day 13 it will be an easy, quick process. But, if they take a month off after that two weeks, it will be chaos the next time they try it. The muscle memory is gone, and they have to rebuild the efficiencies. This is natural.

The continued previews are for the EMPLOYEES! They’re not for guests. If Universal closed the park for an extended period, then the efficiencies the Team Members have gained over the past 2 months will be lost. That lost efficiency will make for a worse opening day experience.

Every day Epic is open for previews allows more reps and sets for the EMPLOYEES. Universal wants park operations to be second nature on May 22. Continuing previews—regardless of the status of the attractions—is the only way to accomplish that.

Sure. The comment I was responding to implied that ride closures could’ve been a result of things like filming or training, which can be done without guests in the park.

Also, you should always factor in a recovery period when taking in reps and sets

 

[Brian G.]

Sure. The comment I was responding to implied that ride closures could’ve been a result of things like filming or training, which can be done without guests in the park.

Also, you should always factor in a recovery period when taking in reps and sets

How do you test guest behavior without guests? They’ve trained without and with. I’m just not following the logic here to the park’s closure.

 

[OrlandoGuy]

How do you test guest behavior without guests? They’ve trained without and with. I’m just not following the logic here to the park’s closure.

The original comment was:

That's assuming the closures are all problematic, but closures during this period don't necessarily equate to issues.

It could be filming, crowd flow testing, training, etc. Anything that needs actual fixing seems to be currently closed or will be closing before the opening date.

All I said was if the park’s closures weren’t due to unexpected problems (i.e., planned or otherwise accounted for), then maybe not extending the preview period would’ve been a smarter move, not just from a guest experience perspective but also from a UO ops perspective.

I don’t disagree that live previews are invaluable. I don’t disagree that things shouldn’t be expected to be 100% during a soft opening.

I just also don’t disagree with Universal’s original decision (at least as it would seem from the outside looking in) to stop previews up to a certain date, or to give the maintenance teams/ops teams/etc. a couple weeks to run through every solution/scenario they identified during any issues from the preview period without having guests in the way.

 

[Brian G.]

The original comment was:

All I said was if the park’s closures weren’t due to unexpected problems (i.e., planned or otherwise accounted for), then maybe not extending the preview period would’ve been a smarter move, not just from a guest experience perspective but also from a UO ops perspective.

I don’t disagree that live previews are invaluable. I don’t disagree that things shouldn’t be expected to be 100% during a soft opening.

I just also don’t disagree with Universal’s original decision (at least as it would seem from the outside looking in) to stop previews up to a certain date, or to give the maintenance teams/ops teams/etc. a couple weeks to run through every solution/scenario they identified during any issues from the preview period without having guests in the way.

I understand that, but outside of filming, which agreed - it can be done at any time, how do you stress test for a grand opening without the stress?

It's akin to a structure-testing instrument; you test the bridge by slowly adding more pressure. You don't just go from 0 to 100 or stop midway. You keep going until something breaks, learn from it, and try again.

Some are planned, some are not.

The original point was that people concluded, "The park should be closed because everything is breaking!" I was saying we shouldn't jump to that conclusion because of other possible factors. This week seems to have been especially hard because of heavy rains, which I believe are the first time we've gotten any since Previews started.

 

[Legacy]

Sure. The comment I was responding to implied that ride closures could’ve been a result of things like filming or training, which can be done without guests in the park.

Also, you should always factor in a recovery period when taking in reps and sets

Employees get their days off. That is the recovery period.

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

I love y’all, coming here everyday is a joy. I am repping from New England, and it seems many of you have gotten to even step foot inside the park where I cannot, and won’t be able to until next year. Appreciate you are literally among the first in the door, and that the park is not officially open yet. Let’s not get nit picky with closings and delays during previews, I know it’s expensive, not disagreeing, but you could wait until it is not a preview period. Again, this place isn’t even open yet.

 

[OLSinFLA]

Which famously went so well…

If you mean the studios, they were definitely in previews months before opening (and they charged a discount price). I still have my tickets from April 1990.