The Eighth Voyage of Sindbad Closing

[JungleSkip]

The issue isn't the closure of Sindbad. No one cares about the show, and if you say you do you're full of it.

The issue is it theoretically will be closed without replacement for a year or two.

Dumb, but this article is hysterical over the closure of a show no one saw and if they did, no one liked it.

 

[SpatulaShack]

I'll be honest, I forgot that Sindbad existed until it closed

The issue with closing Sinband has less to do with customer impact and more to do with optics. It just doesn't look good to close a major attraction with no immediate plans to replace it while the resort continues to penny pinch and operate like it did during the Blackstone/GE days. The parks have become a cash cow for Comcast and there is just no reason for this kind of cheap, short-term planning. Having an enormous, empty theater in a land with only one operating attraction LOOKS bad regardless of whether or not a significant portion of park-goers give a damn about Sinband.

Disney pulled the same crap in the mid-2000's and everyone called them cheap and shortsighted back then too.

 

[AlexanderMBush]

The issue with closing Sinband has less to do with customer impact and more to do with optics. It just doesn't look good to close a major attraction with no immediate plans to replace it while the resort continues to penny pinch and operate like it did during the Blackstone/GE days. The parks have become a cash cow for Comcast and there is just no reason for this kind of cheap, short-term planning. Having an enormous, empty theater in a land with only one operating attraction LOOKS bad regardless of whether or not a significant portion of park-goers give a damn about Sinband.

Disney pulled the same crap in the mid-2000's and everyone called them cheap and shortsighted back then too.

A 3 show a day attraction, is not what I would call a "Major Attraction". Not by a long shot.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

The issue with closing Sinband has less to do with customer impact and more to do with optics. It just doesn't look good to close a major attraction with no immediate plans to replace it while the resort continues to penny pinch and operate like it did during the Blackstone/GE days. The parks have become a cash cow for Comcast and there is just no reason for this kind of cheap, short-term planning. Having an enormous, empty theater in a land with only one operating attraction LOOKS bad regardless of whether or not a significant portion of park-goers give a damn about Sinband.

Disney pulled the same crap in the mid-2000's and everyone called them cheap and shortsighted back then too.

Definitely bothers me. Universal currently has a mindset that they believe they can get away with things because of what's to come.

 

[SpatulaShack]

Dumb, but this article is hysterical over the closure of a show no one saw and if they did, no one liked it.

I don't necessarily disagree but websites like this are going to report on developments and make judgments based on the information they have. Any marketing or PR executive worth their salt would have seen this coming whether it's fair or not and planned accordingly. Instead of softening the blow of the closure by giving a minor announcement (Potter Coaster name, Bourne replacement details), they decided to tell TMs that the show was closing without even putting the information on their official blog. This caused news outlets to reach out to Universal directly for comment which resulted in that lame statement from the PR team. Companies 1/10th the size of Universal don't make such rookie mistakes.

 

[JungleSkip]

I don't necessarily disagree but websites like this are going to report on developments and make judgments based on the information they have. Any marketing or PR executive worth their salt would have seen this coming whether it's fair or not and planned accordingly. Instead of softening the blow of the closure by giving a minor announcement (Potter Coaster name, Bourne replacement details), they decided to tell TMs that the show was closing without even putting the information on their official blog. This caused news outlets to reach out to Universal directly for comment which resulted in that lame statement from the PR team. Companies 1/10th the size of Universal don't make such rookie mistakes.

Maybe because the closure isn't a "blow"?

 

[SpatulaShack]

A 3 show a day attraction, is not what I would call a "Major Attraction". Not by a long shot.

It takes up an enormous footprint. It is one of only two attractions in Lost Continent. It has an imposing facade with a talking fountain in front of it to encourage people to enter. It utilizes major special effects including pyro. It involves multiple TMs, and professional stunt-men. Just because it isn't popular doesn't mean it isn't a major attraction. It isn't an E-ticket but it isn't a minor attraction like the frog choir or Olivanders.

 

[AlexanderMBush]

Reached out to some individuals from Hollywood, and I would like to share some statistics when it comes to the amount of shows that WaterWorld handles (and using Alicia's wording from the Parkscope podcast)

On the slowest day, Universal Studios Hollywood can pull through about two shows a day for WaterWorld. On the most busiest day, they can easily do an upwards to eight. And that, it depends on the subject of park hours that it's where it goes up two or below eight.

Also, the maximum capacity I was told for WW spans at around the 3K mark.

Alrighty, thinking about what was said; let us break this down from what @Alicia mentioned on the Parkscope Podcast just released.

So, if they can barely get around 500 people in a showing, with the dailies being around 1500 (200 people off from the capacity of the theater), and taking it against WaterWorlds 3K; that would mean they only get half of that amount per day.

Now, let us break this down into the lowest, two shows from WaterWorld. Two shows per day would feasibly bring the capacity that the theater holds per day, at around 6,000 people (let us use the maximum in this case).

if they were to have about nearly 500 people per show for Sindbad, they would need about 12 shows a day to get to that amount of 6 thousand people. If they were able to get around 1,500 people per showing; they would need to do 6 showings per day to get to that point.

If they were to get to Waterworlds 8 shows a day for the busiest, they would need 12,000 people who would want to go in and enjoy Sindbad; for the total day (and I am leaving it at 1,500 people per showing).

If they were to have about 500 people per showing (for the busiest WW gets), the number could be at 4,000 people per day.

 

[Ridgepole]

I think it's becoming increasingly clear that Universal doesn't care about enthusiasts, repeat visitors or AP holders. They are targeting new visitors with their media blitz who don't have a clue of what is lost for their buck.

 

[Imperius]

Article seems fair and accurate

Ahhahahahahahahahahaha

 

[SpatulaShack]

Maybe because the closure isn't a "blow"?

But you're using knowledge of the parks and the attraction itself (Sinbad being terrible) and assuming it holds water when discussing the overall optics of the resort in the news cycle. The writer (and most people who are reading the news about the closure) have never even seen the show. All they know is an attraction is closing at a major theme park with no imminent replacement planned shortly after the resort opened a ride that was universally panned. People who make vacation plans pay attention to stuff like this especially now that news is aggregated and targeted based on recent web searches and hotel bookings.

 

[OrlLover]

I think it's becoming increasingly clear that Universal doesn't care about enthusiasts, repeat visitors or AP holders. They are targeting new visitors with their media blitz who don't have a clue of what is lost for their buck.

I think we get that you don’t like USF at the moment with the direction it’s going in but come on that is a kind of ludicrous statement.

 

[Moose84]

The point that I believe most are trying to make is that Universal now has two closed theaters in the same park taking up much need prime real estate in a park starved for expansion space.

I get the frustration as I have voiced before. We love what universal can do when they put there hearts into it and the Potter coaster looks like it is shaping up to be the next game changer attraction. Sorry Disney, GE looks epic and Battle Escape may be some kind of awesome but the Potter coaster looks to be becoming on a scale no one even predicted and we haven’t even got to the actual theming yet. We the fans are asking, no begging, for universal to do more with the land in their parks now. Show off with more than just Potter.

Yes a massive project is forthcoming with the south property but that is 4-5 years away. They have given nothing else for us to salivate over other than previous announcements with vague information. Except they will give us everything for the hotels they are building, oh yippie.

The GP needs a reason to get excited in the coming years but all we have are universal: “well we closed a theater” us :”cool for what” universal: “ well for something sometime in the future” us: “um yay I guess”.

Disney is stealing the thunder in the headlines right now because of all they are doing from the announcements made. Universal you were thrown haymaker by Disney and weathered it but us fans are getting tiresome with you still standing their looking dazed. Fight back already.

 

[Ridgepole]

I think we get that you don’t like USF at the moment with the direction it’s going in but come on that is a kind of ludicrous statement.

I love Universal Orlando. But don't suck up.:hail::doh:

 

[Imperius]

General public didnt even know Sindbad existed and won’t really care that it’s gone. The artical was trash because it put the show together with the “closures” of Dragons Challenge and T2 without mentioning they were being replaced by newer things. That’s why the artical is trash.

 

[Legacy]

But you're using knowledge of the parks and the attraction itself (Sinbad being terrible) and assuming it holds water when discussing the overall optics of the resort in the news cycle. The writer (and most people who are reading the news about the closure) have never even seen the show. All they know is an attraction is closing at a major theme park with no imminent replacement planned shortly after the resort opened a ride that was universally panned. People who make vacation plans pay attention to stuff like this especially now that news is aggregated and targeted based on recent web searches and hotel bookings.

Not really. Fans pay attention to stuff like that. People just making vacation plans to Orlando won’t know or care. People aren’t going to cancel a vacation because of Sindbad.

 

[AlexanderMBush]

General public didnt even know Sindbad existed and won’t really care that it’s gone. The artical was trash because it put the show together with the “closures” of Dragons Challenge and T2 without mentioning they were being replaced by newer things. That’s why the artical is trash.

It mentioned Potter, but did not mention at all of Bourne. It also didn't mention (atleast from when I read it), CineCele.

 

[JungleSkip]

Yes a massive project is forthcoming with the south property but that is 4-5 years away. They have given nothing else for us to salivate over other than previous announcements with vague information. Except they will give us everything for the hotels they are building, oh yippie.

But this is *always* how Universal handles announcements. You don't get solid details on new attractions until 6-8 months before they open. It's not a new phenomenon. It is what it is. Announcements years in advance aren't "fighting back". It's just placating whiny fanboys. The GP doesn't pay attention to that stuff until it's close to opening.

 

[Ridgepole]

It mentioned Potter, but did not mention at all of Bourne. It also didn't mention (atleast from when I read it), CineCele.

why would it mention Bourne? No announcement. Many of you live in a bubble

 

[OrlLover]

I love Universal Orlando. But don't suck up.:hail::doh:

I’m not sucking up just stating my opinion.