Universal's Epic Universe General News & Discussion

[Paulio]

I know, but we're only getting MK. At least we got the JW retheme before Orlando and will get SLoP and SNW (albeit the smallest version) before they do, but still. They're getting a whole brand new park with great future expansion potential. Hard not to be jealous of that.

Unfortunately we might as well deal with it given the current landscape of USH, as well as those in the West Coast/nearby California who doesn't want to visit expensive and humid Florida

 

[themeparkshark]

Unfortunately we might as well deal with it given the current landscape of USH, as well as those in the West Coast/nearby California who doesn't want to visit expensive and humid Florida

Hollywood has had the short end of the stick ever since orlando opened. Don’t compare the parks. If you do, you’ll never enjoy Hollywood. Resorts / parks aren’t even in the same league

 

[fryoj]

After laying the concept art into the plans, you get the below give or take. The Potter and Monsters may be off a hair due to the art getting ambiguous and the presence of other buildings. But the Nintendo and Dreamworks areas are more defined and you can see the in-roads in the art and match them up. Seeing that, either what people are calling the HTTYD is a comprehensive Dreamworks area, or they are giving HTTYD more land than Mario and Donkey Kong combined. By a lot. As much as I'd like to see some of the meltdowns on here from that, I can't see them doing that.

Alternate take: the art is a complete lie and the lands aren't actually located where they show in the art.

Extremely accurate reproduction of concept art.... :

 

[WebHead1138]

After laying the concept art into the plans, you get the below give or take. The Potter and Monsters may be off a hair due to the art getting ambiguous and the presence of other buildings. But the Nintendo and Dreamworks areas are more defined and you can see the in-roads in the art and match them up. Seeing that, either what people are calling the HTTYD is a comprehensive Dreamworks area, or they are giving HTTYD more land than Mario and Donkey Kong combined. By a lot. As much as I'd like to see some of the meltdowns on here from that, I can't see them doing that.

Alternate take: the art is a complete lie and the lands aren't actually located where they show in the art.

Extremely accurate reproduction of concept art.... :
View attachment 10408

That looks Epic

 

[brianlo]

My actual reactions now...

Great!
-I love the four IP choices they made. Was not a fan of New York for the millionth time and there are some godawful Dreamworks options, but they went for a completely unique take with a single franchise. Monsters is a bit of the too good to be true.
-The park is >80% unique (even Nintendo World features the unique, for now, DK section). This really allays my fears and was a big problem I still have with Beijing. I was worried for a while Kung Fu Panda was going to be one of the major lands, again watering down Beijing.
-The park really feels like Shanghai Disneyland. Which is maybe bad in some ways... but it feels like a fresh take with mostly unique offerings. It has the splayed open hub and the semi-obvious holes for expansion. I like Shanghai Disneyland, but it is a departure.
-Night Time entertainment! About time they anticipated Orlando vacationers have been trained for this to be built into your park infrastructure.


Ok
-I think the density of offerings is going to be fine in the end. The park is helped by the additions they've added to the hub. It's not the fullest new park of all times by any means, but it certainly isn't at risk of being a half day park.
-Super Nintendo World..... I think they should have just built it in Kidzone. The park would have been just fine to be anchored by something like Pokemon. Especially since they haven't actually done anything with the extra real estate.


Meh
-The name.
-The layout, maybe. I actually realized hub and spoke is probably the wrong thing to call the Disneyland's. They are full hub-spoke wheels. This is truly a hub and spoke but misses the wheel... obviously there is nothing to be done with huge expansion pads in between. It's an interesting design choice, but I don't think anything would have been lost by having another entrance to also connect the whole park a bit more.

 

[RFRees]

-Super Nintendo World..... I think they should have just built it in Kidzone. The park would have been just fine to be anchored by something like Pokemon. Especially since they haven't actually done anything with the extra real estate.

I agree with this. They pretty much just went ahead with the KZ plans but in the new park. My only hope is that they add a Luigi's Mansion ride soon after, which would make it worthwhile to have the extra space.

Seeing that, either what people are calling the HTTYD is a comprehensive Dreamworks area, or they are giving HTTYD more land than Mario and Donkey Kong combined. By a lot. As much as I'd like to see some of the meltdowns on here from that, I can't see them doing that.

Keep in mind that the rides they developed for SNW were built with USJ / USH and maybe KZ at USF in mind... Limited space. This means by nature they'll be more compact (multiple levels) and take up less land. The other areas including HTTYD were built specifically for Epic Universe and may fully utilize the land allowed.

Also, Alicia is tagging the expansion pad next SNW as the "Nintendo" expansion pad. They could easily add more onto this area, like a Luigi's Mansion ride.

 

[Joey]

Is it just how to train your dragon or is the whole area dreamworks

 

[WebHead1138]

Is it just how to train your dragon or is the whole area dreamworks

It’s just HTTYD

 

[P@n!K_Sw1tC#]

This is more aligned with world showcase’s “countries” than it is with the MK hub in my estimation.

 

[Accio Butterbeer]

Strange since Nintendo is easily the biggest pull this park has. You’d think that would’ve been given the most space.

Also it’s now very clear why it was saved. They didn’t have another colossal hitter like it.

Yeah it’s weird. They could’ve gotten away with making the whole park Nintendo but it looks like the smallest. I mean I hope not because that’s the only one I’m REALLY looking forward to. Monsters too but not on the level of Nintendo.

 

[WebHead1138]

This is just a hunch. But, I believe Uni is still worried about how successful Nintendo will ultimately be. They know it will be popular but will it be Potter level? They want to wait it out and play it safe. I think once UEU opens and Nintendo is a SMASHBROS hit than will see them flooding all 3 parks with Nintendo related IPs. But, for us gamers we obviously know that it will be successful. We just need to be patient with Comcast at this point.

 

[gabe3235]

This is just a hunch. But, I believe Uni is still worried about how successful Nintendo will ultimately be. They know it will be popular but will it be Potter level? They want to wait it out and play it safe. I think once UEU opens and Nintendo is a SMASHBROS hit than will see them flooding all 3 parks with Nintendo related IPs. But, for us gamers we obviously know that it will be successful. We just need to be patient with Comcast at this point.

I don’t think they’re too worried, considering they already have 4 clones of it planned for their parks.

 

[AstroOwl52]

This is more aligned with world showcase’s “countries” than it is with the MK hub in my estimation.

You know, well we're talking about the hub, i do have some questions about it. So, thanks to the coaster, we now know that there will be an additional, stand-alone ride in the hub which will sit beside the major immersive lands. That has me wondering, is the coaster the only one?

I mean, we see plenty of show buildings within the hub so maybe some of those contain attractions? I was wondering if anyone had any answers to my quandry.

 

[WebHead1138]

I don’t think they’re too worried, considering they already have 4 clones of it planned for their parks.

I 100% agree. But I see people becoming very impatient or disagreeing with Uni’s decisions with the property. So I just wanted to clarify my thoughts on Uni’s actions with Nintendo.

 

[Nick]

Ironically, the aesthetic of the architecture in the entrance area is really giving me what Star Wars could/might have been... Cool and otherworldly, bright, elegant, whimsical but with an edge. I love it.

Lots of versions flying around already, but this image from the Close Up blog is the highest resolution which has the full frame rather than being a crop.

If by Star Wars vibe, you mean Canto Bight from TLJ, then yes. Otherwise, i’m not seeing it.

 

[rastuso]

Most people aren't gonna know this is on the horizon until it's imminent

No, this is a whole new park and MASSIVE hotel, with booking starting a year in advance. It will be advertised well in advance too. Especially if it is th first Nintendo land in the US.

Plus if the old parks have nothing new for years, why stay a week?

 

[Accio Butterbeer]

Does anybody know if LOTR was really ever actually a real candidate for a land? Lol I’m really excited about the announcement and park but I just had my hopes up on something like Lord of the Rings or some more based Nintendo IPS like Pokémon. Dreamworks makes sense to me but Fantastic Beasts feels like it could be a huge miss when we know almost all Nintendo IPS would be a hit. In that case they might be better off doing more Potter or at least mixing the two. Also I know somebody mentioned it already but Pokémon taking over Kid Zone would be a great idea.

 

[OrlLover]

Plus if the old parks have nothing new for years, why stay a week?

Why be overly negative for no reason ?

 

[Nick]

No doubt. There isn't an anchor IP to be had. FB, Monsters and HTTYD wouldn't be any sort of pull at all. But like anything, if the rides are amazing, it will be totally fine. I'm stoked about classic monsters, but I totally understand that it's not a huge draw.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EA5H_VvX4AEc7_3.jpg:large

In other news- HTTYD is definitely getting a coaster. Appears to start near Castle and then goes over the water and land. Could it be a Mack clone from Motiongate?

Potter fans will show up like always for FB though. They are a devoted fan base. So while not a hugely relevant IP, it will attract a certain group.

 

[WebHead1138]

Is anybody here surprised/shocked that Uni is adding a Classic Monsters Land? Or the fact that there even considering it? Uni likes to add attractions on the hot new trends these days. I understand the monsters are timeless but it just seems out of character for them to do that with a NEW park. Especially since they ripped out the Beetlejuice show in USF for FF. Don’t get me wrong I’m super excited for the monsters. They probably deserve it more than any other IP that Uni owns.