Universal's Epic Universe General News & Discussion

[adjjb]

This concept art is interesting, and that they did the announcement without any real facts at all.

With them pointing out restaurants/hotels/shopping, which looks all to be in the middle with the lands to the sides, will this entertainment area be accessible without park entry? Will this be like City Walk? Or concept of a within the gates Citywalk you need ticket for?

 

[rastuso]

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 simply don't get why anyone would think this. Nintendo games make orders of magnitude more money, and has a Q rating stratospherically higher than HTTYD.

Like Jason Bourne is a better bet than a revamped Terminator?

Nintendo is an absolute sure fire merch machine. I think they are very stupid holding it back as long as they have.

There should be a Link overlay ready to start construction in LC soon after Velocicoaster opens. And Pokémon should already be started in US. Or as soon as HHN is over.

 

[Paulio]

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.

You'd be surprise how much lots of people love Universal Classic Monsters though. It might also be the first themed area dedicating to horror villians and villians in general in theme park history. I'm sure it will still do well when it opens.

 

[WebHead1138]

I simply don't get why anyone would think this. Nintendo games make orders of magnitude more money, and has a Q rating stratospherically higher than HTTYD.

Like Jason Bourne is a better bet than a revamped Terminator?

Nintendo is an absolute sure fire merch machine. I think they are very stupid holding it back as long as they have.

There should be a Link overlay ready to start construction in LC soon after Velocicoaster opens. And Pokémon should already be started in US. Or as soon as HHN is over.

I think it’s because Uni isn’t a gaming company. It’s not there expertise. There a movie studio. An attraction based on video games is new territory for them.

You'd be surprise how much lots of people love Universal Classic Monsters though. It might also be the first themed area dedicating to horror villians and villians in general in theme park history. I'm sure it will still do well when it opens.

It’s not the people I’m surprised about. It’s Uni themselves.

 

[Paulio]

It’s not the people I’m surprised about. It’s Uni themselves.

I mean, I don't think it's out of character for Uni to have Classic Monsters Universe in its new park. Classic Monster movies are still popular, despite being made almost 80 years ago. Also, Universal wants to take advantage of their own IPs as well like Classic Monsters and Dreamworks, especially after dropping the Fox bid last year.

 

[TheDr]

The fireworks will be set off from the lagoon directly behind the hotel. Similar to Magic Kingdom behind the castle.

That would put the hotel in the perfect place for some projection mapping.

Although it might blind any guest that look out the window..

 

[GAcoaster]

I'm still amazed how so few people have learned their lesson.

Remember this:

Remember everyone saying "it's just a rendering", "the dragon is a placeholder", "It's not really going to look like that"

At this point we are at the same stage as when the DA artwork came out. The land is cleared and the raft of permits is going out for construction to start. What you are seeing in that artwork is what is coming. Yes, there may be tweaks or cuts along the way, but that's what is coming and yes, it is an artists rendering, but it's based on the site plan that has been created and is about to become reality.

So, yes the arch entrance is what the entrance will look like. Yes, that is the way most of the things will be. Notice how close the Nintendo Land is to the model? This is what's coming. Just like the artwork of the recent past, it's probably all based on detailed computer renderings and models with some artistic license being taken, but most of it WYSIWYG.

 

[WebHead1138]

Universal really seems to like dragons.

-Dueling Dragons
-The Dragon featured in Diagon Alley
-How To Train Your Dragon

Dragons galore!

Question for all:

What if the theater at the classic monsters land is the new WaterWorld show? But this time themed to monsters.

 

[Jamesh22]

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 the first Nintendo land in the US.

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

It won't be the first in the US, unless USH spend another 4 years building the already started SNW.

Universal really seems to like dragons.

-Dueling Dragons
-The Dragon featured in Diagon Alley
-How To Train Your Dragon

Dragons galore!

Totally happy with that! But no Dragons shown in the concept for HTTYD? I expected to see at least a couple of them!

 

[Spaulding]

Question for all:

What if the theater at the classic monsters land is the new WaterWorld show? But this time themed to monsters.

A monsters show is something I would never have expected after BJ got closed. Love to see a new show. Either more lighthearted or a more serious action show.

 

[WebHead1138]

A monsters show is something I would never have expected after BJ got closed. Love to see a new show. Either more lighthearted or a more serious action show.

What I want from Classic Monsters:

-Indoor Dark Ride inside of Dracula’s Castle featuring ALL The Classic Monsters
-Classic Monsters Maze. Basically an even better version of the one that was previously located at USH before The Walking Dead took over.
-Classic Monsters Show with the high quality theming that you would expect like WaterWorld.
-Classic Monsters Restaurant. A more highly themed version similar to the one in Universal Studios Florida.

If I get anything remotely close to that I’ll be happy

 

[ChristopherSE]

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.

Honestly, I looked and the art and couldn’t help but think, god that’s a lot of walking

I know all theme parks are, and maybe it’ll be 100% fine in reality, but it just seems like everything is so far apart since none of the lands connect, and that hub is huge.

Then again, as it stands now, going from JP:RA to the parking garage is what? A 12 mile walk? Lmao. I’m sure I’ll be fine.

 

[JungleSkip]

Bet me there won't be. How much?

I’m not saying there won’t 100% be. I’m saying you’re assuming that because there’s a fountain show it’s going to be part of the nighttime show, and are complaining about the setup of a show that we have no idea about.

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.

Well, it won’t be the first Nintendo in the US. They might see a drop off the year before this opens, sure. Once they start the marketing push. But stuff isn’t gonna drop off before then.

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

Most people don’t come more than once every decade. There will be plenty of new stuff at the other parks for people

Totally happy with that! But no Dragons shown in the concept for HTTYD? I expected to see at least a couple of them!

There are 2 showbuildings in the Dragons art at the bottom. Could be one

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.

I’ll be surprised if the coaster is the only one. Just too many buildings in the hub for that to be the case

 

[Imperius]

I'm still amazed how so few people have learned their lesson.

Remember this:

Remember everyone saying "it's just a rendering", "the dragon is a placeholder", "It's not really going to look like that"

At this point we are at the same stage as when the DA artwork came out. The land is cleared and the raft of permits is going out for construction to start. What you are seeing in that artwork is what is coming. Yes, there may be tweaks or cuts along the way, but that's what is coming and yes, it is an artists rendering, but it's based on the site plan that has been created and is about to become reality.

So, yes the arch entrance is what the entrance will look like. Yes, that is the way most of the things will be. Notice how close the Nintendo Land is to the model? This is what's coming. Just like the artwork of the recent past, it's probably all based on detailed computer renderings and models with some artistic license being taken, but most of it WYSIWYG.

Well then I am very disappointed in how the island of Berk looks.

 

[OrlLover]

Well then I am very disappointed in how the island of Berk looks.

To be honest we just have a concept art and not a high definition overview of the land. So I don’t really know how you can say that when it’s so vague.

 

[JungleSkip]

Well then I am very disappointed in how the island of Berk looks.

Nintendo and HTTYD have clearly had theming stripped off/detail toned down for the concept art. I wouldn’t worry too much yet

 

[Bobharlem]

I'm still amazed how so few people have learned their lesson.

Remember this:


Remember everyone saying "it's just a rendering", "the dragon is a placeholder", "It's not really going to look like that"

At this point we are at the same stage as when the DA artwork came out. The land is cleared and the raft of permits is going out for construction to start. What you are seeing in that artwork is what is coming. Yes, there may be tweaks or cuts along the way, but that's what is coming and yes, it is an artists rendering, but it's based on the site plan that has been created and is about to become reality.

So, yes the arch entrance is what the entrance will look like. Yes, that is the way most of the things will be. Notice how close the Nintendo Land is to the model? This is what's coming. Just like the artwork of the recent past, it's probably all based on detailed computer renderings and models with some artistic license being taken, but most of it WYSIWYG.

Looking at how they painted the Nintendo area, it's pretty obvious they left out a lot of detail on purpose -- the things that gave it away were the round hut like things (donkey kong) and a few of the walls and general placement, since we had the Japan stuff to go by. Otherwise taken alone it's hard to figure out what the left area actually is. The Diagon art isn't trying to hide anything, this one is.

But only folks really paying attention will even know what it is All the lands are this way. When they get actual announced content expect concept art that looks similar. This is about as useful as the first concepts of IOA before they announced all the islands.

They are rightfully scared that releasing too much too early will cause folks to hold off on going. I suspect now that they made this announcement they won't say too much more until much further down the line.

 

[Imperius]

Nintendo and HTTYD have clearly had theming stripped off/detail toned down for the concept art. I wouldn’t worry too much yet

That’s what I suspect. Just strange seeing it so bare and seeing how well done CM area looks.
Hope down the line we get some looks at the areas like Disney did with GE.

 

[RFRees]

That’s what I suspect. Just strange seeing it so bare and seeing how well done CM area looks.
Hope down the line we get some looks at the areas like Disney did with GE.

It's also very possible there's a ton of detail on ground level we can't see. It's very possible they purposefully omitted things they're working on (dragon drones flying around please!). It's also very possible that the rest of Epic Universe is near 100%, but Berk is being finalized.

The Diagon artwork shown off was a "this is what you're getting" artwork released to the public just before Diagon opening. This concept of Epic Universe is a purposefully vague concept piece that is many years away from the final product.

 

[mainejeff]

My excitement factor for known lands/themed areas in order based on a scale of 1-10:

Classic Monsters (10) - Just can't wait for this one. I think that this will be the surprise hit of the park.

Nintendo (9) - I'm not a Nintendo fan but I am super excited for the theming and rides.

Hub (9) - Looks incredible. Can't wait to see the water features, landscaping, shops and restaurants.

HTTYD (7) - Will no doubt look incredible. Less enthused about the ride possibilities and disappointed that they are not tackling the entire DreamWorks catalog (as far as we know)

FB (5 ) - If this is entirely based on the FB movie franchise.....yuk. I have absolutely no connection the characters & places compared to Potter. Again....I'm sure the theming will be incredible.