Universal's Epic Universe Wish List & Speculation

[RFRees]

If we define virtual queue as "show up at X time for Y ride or lose your place" then I am against it as well. Hopefully you guys understand that's not what I'm talking about at all though.

Sorry, it was my understanding that you wanted the entire park VQ.

Yeah I'm only suggesting the park might emulate Volcano Bay, which always has at least one physical line available.

I genuinely don’t want to be tied down on my vacation, so having the absolute freedom is key. Also we have single rider and fast pass to pass by queues that people can purchase and spend more $ on as well. I understand parks are changing, but like jrn14 said, when it only gives you an hour to come back you’re not left with lots of options. I just hope it’s only for shows or the hub attractions if they intend to use it at all.

Volcano Bay allows you to return whenever you want. You could tap into Krakatau for a the 100 minute wait and come back 5 hours later if you wanted. The return window never closes after it opens. I get that people have had bad experiences with fast pass systems, having to plan ahead and you miss your time/etc., but VB is not like that at all.

And if you don't have a reservation for a ride, your choices boil down to lazy river or spend money.

I was going to argue against this, but you already did:

I agree that the water parks are different. They're more laid back, so sitting around and enjoying the sun is a valid day

But regardless, I would argue that Epic Universe will attempt to do the same. Whether or not you agree with Universal that a 'valid day' is spent on the interactive elements around SNW + Hogsmeade + other areas is up to you to decide, but this is Universal's intent.

What evidence do you have that they do?

Notice my statement:
"They encourage guests to spend more money (as people spend more time in stores/restaurants, and have credit cards linked to their wristband)."
This is a 100% factual statement. The guests are in fact encouraged to spend more money. Now whether or not this works (and they do spend more money) is not data that I have.

But you are making a claim which needs data to support it ('guests don't spend more money when in virtual queue.').

Disney has changed how certain queue systems work, but just because things have changed does not mean they have stopped using virtual queues.

 

[RFRees]

Double post.

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

I just think the issue is that if you’re going to either do 1/2, or 1, or 3/4, or all attractions with virtual queue, it limits your options immediately using it. Even at VB, if I wait the 5 hours for Krakatua, it still limits my attractions because then the other ones that require a wait I cannot ride using VQ, which limits my experience. Of course this would be the choice I make using the VQ and waiting the 5 hours, but my point is it does require planning, or last minute changes, or downtime. I’m not sure where it would really work here. My only guess would be if you need a return ticket for the Ministry or something like that.

Or, use the virtual queue for hub attractions and get people into those lands. I think that might be their best bet with this in EU

 

[RFRees]

I just think the issue is that if you’re going to either do 1/2, or 1, or 3/4, or all attractions with virtual queue, it limits your options immediately using it. Even at VB, if I wait the 5 hours for Krakatua, it still limits my attractions because then the other ones that require a wait I cannot ride using VQ, which limits my experience

How is this any different than waiting in the physical line for Hagrid's for 5 hours? I have to make serious life choices before I enter into a 5 hour Hagrid wait. (Thankfully the wait time has died down since then.)

My personal hope is that they have enough shows and entertainment that you could just hop into one of those shows while you're in a VQ for an e-ticket ride. Get your VQ for MK and watch the Smash Bros show, then return to MK, just as an example.

The problem with a current park like Universal Studios using VQ for all their rides is there's not enough to do outside of the VQ. If Fear Factor was actually good then you might not mind going to that while you wait in a VQ for Gringotts. (Though this isn't a problem for me since I typically just play Pokemon Go most of the day anyway. And I have premiere passes so I pretty much only wait for Hagrid's, which I really wish had a virtual line.)

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

How is this any different than waiting in the physical line for Hagrid's for 5 hours? I have to make serious life choices before I enter into a 5 hour Hagrid wait. (Thankfully the wait time has died down since then.)

My personal hope is that they have enough shows and entertainment that you could just hop into one of those shows while you're in a VQ for an e-ticket ride. Get your VQ for MK and watch the Smash Bros show, then return to MK, just as an example.

The problem with a current park like Universal Studios using VQ for all their rides is there's not enough to do outside of the VQ. If Fear Factor was actually good then you might not mind going to that while you wait in a VQ for Gringotts. (Though this isn't a problem for me since I typically just play Pokemon Go most of the day anyway. And I have premiere passes so I pretty much only wait for Hagrid's, which I really wish had a virtual line.)

I just feel lines aren’t typically 5 hours though and that’s at opening, so I really do think that’s more of a choice than anything and VQ wouldn’t solve that for Hagrid’s because the line to get a ticket I think would even have a wait lol. Not everyone has the app. 2-3 hour lines for popular attractions I think do look good for a company and even out crowds a bit because they’re people eaters. Also most end in a gift shop or close to one, so that’s another merch opportunity.

 

[RFRees]

I just feel lines aren’t typically 5 hours though and that’s at opening, so I really do think that’s more of a choice than anything and VQ wouldn’t solve that for Hagrid’s because the line to get a ticket I think would even have a wait lol. Not everyone has the app. 2-3 hour lines for popular attractions I think do look good for a company and even out crowds a bit because they’re people eaters. Also most end in a gift shop or close to one, so that’s another merch opportunity.

I was only using the 5 hour example since that's what you had mentioned in your post. I'm assuming Krakatua was a much shorter VQ wait today (maybe 80 min) with tons of 'ride now' attractions throughout the day.

Also I'm suggesting that everyone might get a wristband, which seems to be what is going to happen with SNW in Osaka and possibly the other SNW locations (this is the reason for this whole discussion).

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

I was only using the 5 hour example since that's what you had mentioned in your post. I'm assuming Krakatua was a much shorter VQ wait today (maybe 80 min) with tons of 'ride now' attractions throughout the day.

Also I'm suggesting that everyone might get a wristband, which seems to be what is going to happen with SNW in Osaka and possibly the other SNW locations (this is the reason for this whole discussion).

Very fair. We shall see what happens. We’re only a few months away from SNW anyways so we’ll get to know a lot more.

My guess is SNW Orlando stands-out more from the other SNWs by having DK first, along hopefully with Smash Bros. Smash Bros is exclusive, DK expands to Japan in 5-10 years.

 

[Alicia]

Mario Kart won’t have a virtual queue. It’ll have one of the largest queue spaces of any Universal ride. The whole second level is queue. The first level is the ride.

 

[Mad Dog]

I recall that when Disney went the Magic Band/Fastpass route, they made a number of statements directed to investors that this would result in more revenue through increased expenditures of guests. Shortly thereafter, nearly every top Executive connected with that expensive program were either fired or resigned. At quarterly investor meetings , for a couple of years, Iger was asked to quantify the increased revenues resulting from the very costly MB/FP plus rollout. He was unable to ever come up with any figures and continually ducked answering the question, or talked around it without ever stating any figures whatsoever.

 

[AstroOwl52]

Mario Kart won’t have a virtual queue. It’ll have one of the largest queue spaces of any Universal ride. The whole second level is queue. The first level is the ride.

Oof. Thoughts and prayers to future parkgoer's inevitably burning feet.


Fun Question: Which ride in Orlando has the longest queue? My guess is Flight Of Passage but wouldn't be surprised if Rise Of Resistance tops it. You know the answer @Alicia?

 

[Alicia]

Fun Question: Which ride in Orlando has the longest queue? My guess is Flight Of Passage but wouldn't be surprised if Rise Of Resistance tops it. You know the answer @Alicia?

It might actually still be Hagrid/Dueling Dragons Maybe. At least by distance walked.

 

[WaterToWade]

Just wanted to clarify I didn’t mean TapuTapu or FnF type virtual line but the Fallon color card system

 

[Jushin Thunder Liger]

I've noted this before, but I'd adore a WWE land/ride. I've thought about the general idea of what a ride would be like; I'm picturing a "SOMETHING GOES HORRIBLY WRONG" dark ride, but with the added plot benefit of having a reason to be in such a situation to start with. Here's what I'm thinking, as I pull it outta my ass on the fly:

You and your fellow riders have just been picked out for a very special upgrade to the WWE taping you've attended: you're invited to view the show by way of these "roving cameras", vehicles with cameras that can move more rigidly and much faster than a traditional cameraman (other than that one guy on Maury). However, the world of WWE this ride takes place in takes the characters that the Superstars portray very seriously; they are still very human, true, but here, Brock Lesnar truly carries the strength of a great mythical beast and is very difficult to contain, and on this night, he has broken free from Paul Heyman, his associate-cum-handler, and is very quickly preparing to lay waste to Orlando! As the WWE Superstars gear up to take down Brock, we're along for the ride, capturing the footage; Mr. McMahon reasons that such footage would bring in ratings they've not seen before, so why let an event like this go to waste? Also, The Fiend either shows up or he gets a Halloween Horror Nights house, there's no inbetween.

Beyond that, I only have a couple other ideas for the ride:

1.) The vehicle itself. I am, admittedly, picturing a Spider-Man/Transformers vehicle, but I'm curious as to whether or not roller coaster portions could be included; as such, I propose a trackless vehicle that's able to guide itself onto a coaster track and latch on, or simply a variant on the original vehicles which operates on a coaster track. The outside of the vehicle would be themed to resemble a WWE commentary desk, which traditionally seats 2 or 3 but can seat 4. This is the best image I could find of one:

2.) I'd really fancy a show scene involving a recreation of a large arena achieved by eye tricks, physical sets, and so on. If it could be fit in, I'd love a bit here where you get rammed backwards into WWE's famous LED walls, as seen here (skip to 1:18):



...whew! I need to take a breather.

 

[AstroOwl52]

I've noted this before, but I'd adore a WWE land/ride. I've thought about the general idea of what a ride would be like; I'm picturing a "SOMETHING GOES HORRIBLY WRONG" dark ride, but with the added plot benefit of having a reason to be in such a situation to start with. Here's what I'm thinking, as I pull it outta my ass on the fly:

You and your fellow riders have just been picked out for a very special upgrade to the WWE taping you've attended: you're invited to view the show by way of these "roving cameras", vehicles with cameras that can move more rigidly and much faster than a traditional cameraman (other than that one guy on Maury). However, the world of WWE this ride takes place in takes the characters that the Superstars portray very seriously; they are still very human, true, but here, Brock Lesnar truly carries the strength of a great mythical beast and is very difficult to contain, and on this night, he has broken free from Paul Heyman, his associate-cum-handler, and is very quickly preparing to lay waste to Orlando! As the WWE Superstars gear up to take down Brock, we're along for the ride, capturing the footage; Mr. McMahon reasons that such footage would bring in ratings they've not seen before, so why let an event like this go to waste? Also, The Fiend either shows up or he gets a Halloween Horror Nights house, there's no inbetween.

Beyond that, I only have a couple other ideas for the ride:

1.) The vehicle itself. I am, admittedly, picturing a Spider-Man/Transformers vehicle, but I'm curious as to whether or not roller coaster portions could be included; as such, I propose a trackless vehicle that's able to guide itself onto a coaster track and latch on, or simply a variant on the original vehicles which operates on a coaster track. The outside of the vehicle would be themed to resemble a WWE commentary desk, which traditionally seats 2 or 3 but can seat 4. This is the best image I could find of one:

2.) I'd really fancy a show scene involving a recreation of a large arena achieved by eye tricks, physical sets, and so on. If it could be fit in, I'd love a bit here where you get rammed backwards into WWE's famous LED walls, as seen here (skip to 1:18):



...whew! I need to take a breather.

Once Vince McMahon respects the rights of his athletes and gives them the health benefits they need to curb the low lifespan range among wrestlers, then i'd be more than happy to endorse your idea.

 

[quinnmac000]

As has been reported, the Osaka version is going to have a wristband (like Magic-Band or Tapu Tapu) with a Mario symbol on it. I imagine that anyone entering this section of the park in Osaka will be given the wristband (and anyone exiting will need to return it to a bin). I assume the wristband will be attached to your park ticket (attendee scans your ticket and hands you the wristband). I think it's pretty safe to assume that the other versions of SNW will operate in a similar fashion - Mario themed wristband given to each guest in this section, used for interactive elements, may be used for virtual line system, wristband returned upon exit of this area.

But it's possible that Epic Universe operates differently. It's possible Universal gives out a wristband to each and every guest upon entry to Epic Universe (not just SNW). In this way, they could have interactive elements and virtual queue for the entire theme park.

Otherwise without wristbands, they could do a cell phone app similar to SWGE to gamify the entire park (and still connect with the wristbands in SNW).

That's awesome and I'm definitely excited about this! But, I don't see a way for full gamification with just wands (such as keeping track of all the creatures you've collected)... basically you would need the sensors to discriminate one wand from another, and say "this is Jane's wand" to keep track of her score. I believe they would need more advanced technology for the sensors and I'm not even sure the current interactive wands could work?

So without wristbands or advanced wand technology, in the Wizarding World you would need guests to pull out their phones to interact with the world (like SWGE)... and I'm just not sure JK would approve.

No returning it because it connects to your switch. That was the big thing they hit on.

 

[Nemesis Inferno]

With the Virtual Queue Vs physical line, personally it depends on the type of ride that it is for. Fallon gets it about as right as you can go as the "holding area" has enough entertainment and to warrant the 20-30 min wait it can give. but a way to bypass it would be the best system. So your given wait in a 50 min queue, or come back in 20 min and wait in a 30 min holding area. Depends entirely on the line VB issue is they tried to make everything virtual where it should only be put in on a case by case basis.

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

Im 100% anticipating that building in-between SNW and Classic Monsters is Charmander. It just can't be, seems to have some fire playing, Charmander Grille anyone?

 

[Imperius]

There is no chance they are throwing just a random Pokémon building in the park. It will have its own land at some point somewhere.

 

[JungleSkip]

There is no chance they throwing just a random Pokémon building in the park. It will have its own land at some point somewhere.

This

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

There is no chance they are throwing just a random Pokémon building in the park. It will have its own land at some point somewhere.

Yes, its the rumored expansion plot for Nintendo. I don't think its crazy to think they have either a shop, small flat ride, or restaurant prior to a full land opening. Gotta bank in on that Nintendo somehow! SNW Orlando will be the 3rd one they've opened, gotta start somewhere on expanding beyond that and this is all likely to be open in 4 years.