Universal's New Park/Site B Blue Sky Thread

[ragerunner]

On the water park discussion- I would like to point out that blizzard beach has 3 water slides (1 standing but not operating) that have almost no theming and are just on steel supports. The last 4 water slides that Disney has built at typoon lagoon are also exposed water slides on steel supports with minimual theming.
I think you could easily make the case that over the last decade Disney has been the cheap one when it comes to water park development that has little to no immersive theming.

 

[Magic-Man]

I still think that the theme park and waterpark will be connected somehow. They could probably connect it using the hub & spoke design, having one of the spokes head to a separate gate. Or they could put a luxury resort in the middle of the two parks.

 

[Mike S]

I mean, they're literally about to start building an "unthemed" steel coaster.

Yeah. Such a shame too.

We already have two 200ft coasters in Florida...We need a 300ft

You guys are Universal fans, right? What made you one? Because what you’re wanting- something on the scale of disney sea, the greatest and most immersive theme park in the world, is not what Universal is or has ever been. They’ll make an immersive area, but they’ll always be In your face Universal. Look at Volcano bay for heavens sake- yellow red green blue slides all over the Fin place.

And you’re expecting Disney Sea level of immersion?

I’m all for immersion, but I’m also not going to set myself up for disappointment.

Universal will always be universal and do universal things.

Insiders have said Disney Sea is what they’re aiming for but if what you say is true then Universal will never be as good as Disney’s best parks. Sad, I was rooting for them to go all in.

I just want this park to be a mix of Tokyo Disneysea’s immersion, IOA’s rides, and Volcano Bay’s interactivity, and that’s what this park will be. IOA will have two (relatively) unthemed steel coasters come 2020, and this new park will have one. It’s simple.

To me, a coaster in the sightline doesn’t ruin immersion. If anything, it gets me excited. I always look for Sheikra when I pass BGT, Hulk gives me that “Oh my god, I’m finally here” feeling, Kings Island’s coasters excite the hell out of me, and a lot of other people feel the same. Coasters create synergy and get people excited.

We might hate exposed steel here, but the public isn’t going to complain if they see a hyper. They’ll say “Dang, that looks awesome” and go in ride. There’ll be immersion everywhere else. You can’t see hulk from Hogsmeade (in most places), you can’t see Rockit from Diagon, and I expect the same here.

It’s not like we’ll have a Flying Dinosaur situation. We’ll be fine.

I look for Hogwarts when approaching Universal. Hulk, Doom, and Rockit are like “oh, those are here too.”

If it has a Mario Kart ride and Super Nintendo World, it is automatically better than DisneySea

Not if they ruin it with a 300ft coaster.

Yes, I do. I also think that people's preconcieved notions on how things should be themed, as to opposed to what is actually built, lead people to nonsensical conclusions.

The slides at TL and BB are themed to naturally occurring elements. At TL, they are tan and buried in rock work because they are supposed to look like mud streams. At BB they are a bluish white because they are supposed to look like ice. At Volcano Bay, they are colored because they are supposed to look like...water slides. VB is themed to a modern high tech water park built by the decendants of the ancient Waturi people because of their love of water. Putting mud slides and having a muddy lazy river in a modern high tech water park is nonsensical since they are not supposed to be naturally occurring elements. Apparently, the modern Waturi people are smart phone wielding, street taco eating, craft beer drinking island hipsters.

That just seems like a convenient excuse to not go all out.

 

[JungleSkip]

Disney's "best parks" are the parks with the most rides. Full stop. The more I'm divorced from my trip to Tokyo, the more I realize TDL and DL are probably the better parks than TDS.

TDS is incredibly beautiful, no doubt. But USF has just as many rides I'd call "Must Rides" as TDS does.The new expansions will help, but I'm gonna be honest, I'd rather Universal spend money on giving a new park a DL-like compliment of rides than I would on TDS theming.

All of Orlando's parks save for MK lack a full day's compliment of rides. If Universal can build as many rides as MK has, with the top tier of those rides matching Mummy/Gringotts/FJ/Spider-Man/Kong/Potter coaster, I'll be more than happy.

 

[Disneyhead]

Yeah. Such a shame too.

Insiders have said Disney Sea is what they’re aiming for but if what you say is true then Universal will never be as good as Disney’s best parks. Sad, I was rooting for them to go all in.

I look for Hogwarts when approaching Universal. Hulk, Doom, and Rockit are like “oh, those are here too.”

Not if they ruin it with a 300ft coaster.

That just seems like a convenient excuse to not go all out.

I would argue they did go all out. Y'all just don't like colored slides.

 

[Mike S]

Disney's "best parks" are the parks with the most rides. Full stop. The more I'm divorced from my trip to Tokyo, the more I realize TDL and DL are probably the better parks than TDS.

TDS is incredibly beautiful, no doubt. But USF has just as many rides I'd call "Must Rides" as TDS does.The new expansions will help, but I'm gonna be honest, I'd rather Universal spend money on giving a new park a DL-like compliment of rides than I would on TDS theming.

All of Orlando's parks save for MK lack a full day's compliment of rides. If Universal can build as many rides as MK has, with the top tier of those rides matching Mummy/Gringotts/FJ/Spider-Man/Kong/Potter coaster, I'll be more than happy.

Why not have both? Best park in the world automatically.

 

[JungleSkip]

I would argue they did go all out. Y'all just don't like colored slides.

The only place I was disappointed in with VB was the lazy river theming.

The slides at that park wipe the floor with everything else in Orlando, though, and that's why I go to water parks.

 

[JungleSkip]

Why not have both?

Sure, that'd be great. But if it doesn't happen I'm not gonna rend my garments. I'm not expecting TDS theming quality from an entire park at Universal. I am expecting a full compliment of rides so they have their first, true "full day park" in Orlando. If everything is on the level of Potter to go with that? Great. If not? Oh well, I got a ton of rides to ride

 

[Mad Dog]

Why not have both? Best park in the world automatically.

I think you nailed it. :thumbsup: ...high number of good attractions & shows...great immersion......Compete with WDW Flagship MK directly.....Comcast/Universal , Go Big or Go Home

 

[shiekra38]

I love Nintendo games, but come on. That’s a bit of an exaggeration.

DisneySea has some great theming...impeccable...Journey is a great ride, ToT has a fun storyline....Otherwise, it's pretty

Did Spider-Man make IOA the best theme park in the world in 1999?

It is one of the rides that made many of us fans today, and turned people's heads to take Universal seriously as an inventive creator of dark rides for the new millenium. I would say IOA was the best park in the world at the time in 1999-2003ish

 

[Magic-Man]

Just going to say this.

If LOTR doesn't end up coming, it would make sense financially. Tolkien would demand a large sum of cash, top-notch theming (that would probably include a mountain), and who knows what else? That money could be used for other areas, like more Nintendo attractions, Dreamworks theming, etc. Not to mention the fact that the land could be used to potentially make two more spokes.

Universal could easily replace LOTR with Pokemon and FB without taking any attendance away. And Classic Monsters/Berk/Shrek could have a similar land structure/theme to LOTR anyways, so why bother? The park will be fine, and possibly better, without it.

 

[happy bunny rabbit]

I hope Uni attempts to have some kind of Smash presence, that game makes fans and the GP so hype and some kind of tournament space would be great for park attendance.

 

[JungleSkip]

I hope Uni attempts to have some kind of Smash presence, that game makes fans and the GP so hype and some kind of tournament space would be great for park attendance.

I will guarantee there will not be a Super Smash Bros tournament space anywhere inside the park

 

[Mike S]

I will guarantee there will not be a Super Smash Bros tournament space anywhere inside the park

If they do anything it’ll be something like Harry Potter Celebration but Nintendo. I hope for something like that at least.

 

[happy bunny rabbit]

I will guarantee there will not be a Super Smash Bros tournament space anywhere inside the park

I meant it as more of a re-usable theatre, which could be used for many things.


Including Smash tournaments.

 

[Scott W.]

I was bored in Costco today and started to read the art of Harry Potter book with the thought that more Potter is potentially coming to this park.

What stood out is Azkaban. Visually stunning, could provide a great experience and is located far enough away from Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley to make sense in the new park.

 

[Magic-Man]

I was bored in Costco today and started to read the art of Harry Potter book with the thought that more Potter is potentially coming to this park.

What stood out is Azkaban. Visually stunning, could provide a great experience and is located far enough away from Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley to make sense in the new park.

My question is, how would they turn that into a land/ride? Also, why wouldn’t you just use FB?

 

[happy bunny rabbit]

My question is, how would they turn that into a land/ride? Also, why wouldn’t you just use FB?

Much less popular than Azkaban.

 

[Magic-Man]

Much less popular than Azkaban.

But it’s still a fruitful IP, with plenty of options to choose from. You already have a ton of regular Potter, with more on the way.

 

[happy bunny rabbit]

But it’s still a fruitful IP, with plenty of options to choose from. You already have a ton of regular Potter, with more on the way.

Yeah, but no one really wants FB lands over Potter.